Impossible Creatures: The Story of Rex Chance
by ChestnutBrumby
Summary: Rex Chance discovers his longlost father has been working on a technology to combine two separate animals into one. Teaming up with beautiful, fiery Dr. Lucy Willing and an intelligent, loyal Wolf-lion hybrid, Rex sets out to save the world...
1. Prologue

**Impossible Creatures: **_**Prologue**_

**Disclaimer: I do not own Impossible Creatures, Rex Chance or any of its characters. **

**Summary: A strange dream unsettles the man known as Rex Chance, newly arrived in a place that no longer feels like home. **

Animal voices echoed in the still air around him. At first he thought none of them were close, but a deep sixth sense warned him such a conclusion was incorrect.

He stiffened with fear as the creature appeared, moving towards him gracefully, fearlessly. He knew at once he was dreaming. The intelligent face of a wolf and the rangy body were instantly recognizable as canine, but the springy athletic legs, they were feline. They were covered in thick tawny fur, while the torso and head bore mottled-grey wolf fur.

This was certainly a strange dream.

The strange hybrid moved closer still and two more things become apparent. The first was the size. It stood as tall as a Clydesdale at the shoulder, powerful muscles rippling majestically under its fur. The wolf head was about the size of a tiger's and the jaws looked capable of crushing bone. The second thing was the eyes. Their were no pupils, and they glowed an eerie whitish-blue colour.

Closer and closer it prowled on silent feline feet, until it was inches away, terrifyingly real. The hairs along the neck bristled, the sound of it exhaling, the twitch of the whiskers. This was getting far too strange.

_Wake up, Rex! Wake up!_

Rex Chance sat bolt upright in bed, a sheen of sweat bathing him in a soft glow from the weak light cast by a stubby candle beside the bed. Outside the sky was still dark. It took him a second to get his bearings before he pushed aside the covers and headed for the bathroom, leaning heavily against the porcelain basin. That had been a vivid dream.

Rex was a tall man, all sinew and muscle, and it was quite obvious at a glance at his tanned skin and calloused hands he was used to a life outdoors. His hair was thick, medium brown, and had a slight wave. Long brows accented wide-set dark brown eyes, eyes that shone with a hint of compassion under the steely outer barrier. He had strong features, well-defined cheekbones, and a small cleft in his stubble-dusted chin. At the moment he look tense and frazzled, anxiously running a hand through his thick hair. He couldn't recall having a dream like this since he was a very young child.

Far too restless and keyed-up now to go back to bed, Rex instead went downstairs. He had returned home late the previous evening and stumbled straight to bed without even checking over his apartment. Being fired had proved oddly exhausting. Or perhaps it had been the visit to the local pub afterwards that had tired him out?

There was a layer of dust over everything, but otherwise it was the same old cramped apartment. The pot-plant his ex-girlfriend had given him the previous year was dead. This was unsurprising, since Rex had left on his latest - and last, it turned out - assignment the day after she'd given it to him. He didn't think he'd even watered it, and he felt a momentary touch of guilt looking at the whithered skeleton of the plant that was all that remained in the dusty pot of earth and another failed relationship. This was the first night he'd spent in his apartment in five months. Sighing, his eye fell upon the stack of letters he must have stepped right over upon entering last night. He stooped to pick them up and thought about sitting down to sort through them. He'd been away for Christmas - perhaps there was a card or two among the various bills, photography magazines, and free samples.

A sudden bout of loneliness struck him as he stood in his hallway, which now seemed less familiar to him than the cabin he'd spent the previous four weeks in during the trip home. He bowed his head and dropped the pile of of mail on the table as he headed back to his room. Pushing the door closed against the sight of the empty, dusty, barren apartment that looked as if it had been abandoned by its owner, he heaved a sigh and lay back down on the bed.

The mail could wait until morning.


	2. Exile, Part 1

**Impossible Creatures: _Chapter One, Part One: _Exile**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Impossible Creatures or any of its characters. They belong to Microsoft and Relic entertainment. **

**Summary: Rex Chance arrives on the Isla Variatias for the adventure of a lifetime... **

_From the diary of Rex Chance, dated June 8th, 1937_

_For years, I thought my father was dead. The infamous Erik Chanikov, who disappeared over thirty years ago after he was exiled from the scientific community. All I knew of him was what a handful of old newspaper clippings told me - and that's never been enough. Until today, when I received a letter that turned my world upside down._

**My dear son, **

**At last I have found you. I have been hiding on these islands, working in exile - to protect both myself, and you, for many years. But I am growing old, and while I am sure I have many years left, I would like to look upon the face of my son... before it is too late. Upton Julius, the man who saved my life, found you at my request. **

**I want you to know the truth. **

**Your father, **

**Dr Erik Chanikov. **

_I travelled from New York to the coordinates in the letter, to a remote and frigid little rock in the Isla Variatas, a virtually unknown chain of islands over a thousand miles long, and owned by the wealthy industrialist, Upton Julius. My plane is about to land - and I find myself completely unsure of what I am supposed to be feeling. _

In Rex's eyes the most logical place to start looking was the large metal lab framed by a small hill to one side, perched on a small area of snowy but flat land that then sloped down a steep rocky shore to the ocean.

Rex pushed the metal door hesitantly and was surprised when it yielded under his hand. Was his father so secure on these islands he never locked his doors?

"Hello? Father?"

His voice echoed down the corridor and repeated hollowly in his ears. With every step he took his tension expanded until he felt it raising the hairs on the back of his neck.

The lab was deserted. On some instinctive level Rex knew that his father was not here... but perhaps there was some clue as to where he had gone.

He pressed on, his boots making a hollow clunking sound as he made his way through the metal-floored rooms.

His anxiety only grew as he entered a large chamber. The windows were sparce and set above his head, and looked as if they hadn't been cleaned in years. The dim light they cast from the winter world outside filtered down onto empty, rounded tanks, stained with watermarks down the sides. Each tank had a bulky control console sitting beside it, the light bulbs and switches upon them dusty. Rex spied a pair of metal doors covering something up at the far end of the room, beside a set of stairs. Half-way there, he turned and glanced uneasily over his shoulder. He had the strongest feeling of being watched. Turning around, he eyed the chamber behind him wearily and backed up. He stopped when he bumped into the doors, and they shifted under his weight. Turning slowly, still cautious, Rex grasped the doors and pried them apart to see what was behind them.

The tank behind them was even larger and filled with a glowing blue fluid that cast a greenish light onto Rex's face. But that wasn't the only thing in it. Suspended, motionless, was a monstrous beast, a completely impossible creature. Rex knew a lot about the world of nature and immediately recognized the elongated body and legs of a praying mantis. As if it wasn't bad enough that long grass-green body wasn't easily half as tall again as he was, but the head attached to it was the unmistakable striped head of a tiger. A head with a gaping jaw that could have seized a man around the middle and cut him in half effortlessly. A similarly banded tail floated behind the monster.

Rex had never seen anything quite so unbelievable in his entire life.

_Could be worse_, He thought to himself, trying to get a grip on his amazement. _You could have met it down a dark alley at night_. At least the creature was safely imprisoned in this tank.

There was a clicking sound behind him, followed by a menacing growl. Rex had been so thunderstruck by the tiger-mantis that he'd completely forgotten to look out behind him. He spun around, cursing himself for letting his guard down.

A second monster stood barely a stone's throw away. Stood was perhaps an incorrect term for the snarling wolf's head that was perched incredibly on the six legs of a scorpion. Just as bad, the instantly recognizable stinging tail arched up over the monster's back. It resembled the tail of a normal scorpion in every way but one: it was easily the length of a small car. Rex couldn't take his eyes away from those that shone form the head of the wolf. Those eyes were an eerie, glowing white. With no pupils or irises.

The wolf snarled again and its ears laid back against the back of its head. Rex instantly knew it was going to attack him. He snatched a curved pipe off a partially-collapsed work bench beside him and threw it with all his strength. The pipe bounded off the armoured scorpion hide as if it were no more threatening than a marshmallow, but it angered the beast, which reared up onto its back legs and waved its front legs threateningly. Rex didn't waste a second longer. He ran at the workbench, which was lower at one end where a rusted support had given way, raced up it like a ramp, and hurtled himself through at window above him. It was an amazing jump but Rex had little alternative with a monster like that blocking the way he'd come in. Shards of glass shattered around him as he burst through the window, landing heavily on his back. Wincing, he braced his palms against the snow to push himself back up.

And stared right into the white-eyed wolf face of yet another creature.

Sitting up slowly, Rex saw there were further two scorpion-bodied wolves at either flank. They had him surrounded. Stepping up beside the first monster came a man, quite unafraid of the growling animals. He had a bulky figure and was dressed in a crisp military uniform. His skin was pale, with thinning dark hair, cold, unforgiving eyes and an unnatural smile that was far too wide for his face. "Rather beautiful, aren't they?" He asked Rex, as if enquiring about the weather. He seemed to be waiting for a response. Wondering if he was trapped in some sort of bad dream, Rex climbed very slowly to his feet. "Unusual, ah... pets." He replied at length.

"They are products of the Sigma technology, the perfect blending of two separate creatures. Much superior to anything you'd find in nature." The man continued smoothly. There was the same coldness in his voice as their was in his gaze. Rex decided he'd never met a more unsavoury individual. "Look, obviously I'm in the wrong place," He said, trying to sound friendly. "I'm looking for a man."

"Yes." Agreed the stranger, as if he knew this already. "You're looking for your long-lost father, Dr Chanikov."

Rex was getting more uneasy about this situation by the second. "What's going on here? Who are you?" He demanded, dropping all pretenses.

The man preformed a short bow that was somehow mocking. "Upton Julius, at your service."

That pulled Rex up short. He knew that name. "Upton Julius - aren't you a friend of my father? Where is he?"

Julius smiled coolly at him. "You should be more concerned about yourself, Mr Chance." The threat in his voice was unmistakable, but Rex stayed calm. Obviously since the monsters hadn't attacked him yet they were under this man's control. He did notice that they were starting to shift and growl at him, though. Not a good sign. "Look, I've got no quarrel with you. So you can call of your cross-breeds."

"Cross-breeds!" Snapped Julius, his face contorting in anger. Obviously that hadn't ben the right thing to say. "So narrow-minded... the Sigma Technology does more that just cross breed, Mr Chance. It combines fears... compounds terrors. A fact you'll appreciate soon enough." He waved a hand at the beast beside him. The forth one, the one that had been about to attack him inside, emerged from the lab and all four of them started to advance on Rex, showing their teeth. "Collect him!" Ordered Julius. "He must be alive, but he needn't be... intact."

Rex lifted his hands, turning his head to try and keep an eye on all of them at once. "Easy... stay back..."

Julius had just moved back out of the way to allowed his pets to do their job when the sound of an engine filled the air. With a scowl, he turned.

As if the recent happenings weren't incredible enough, flying through the air towards them was a train with a pair of massive fans attached to either side. Leaving a trail of smoke behind it, the lab crested the rocky shore and landed, kicking up snow. Rex only got a glimpse of the amazing machine before the first creature pounced at him. With a yell, Rex grabbed it where its shoulders would be, falling on his back under the weight but managing to keep the snapping head from reaching him. The strength of the struggling animal was unbelievable. It was like trying to still a thrashing crocodile.

The door at the rear of the train was booted violently open, and onto the wooden platform built onto the back leaped a woman. Her chestnut hair flew out behind her and she gripped a long rifle in her hands. Expertly raising the weapon, she pulled the trigger and shot the wolf-scorpion about to pounce on Rex. "No!" Bellowed Julius furiously.

Taking aim a second time the woman hit the one he was wrestling with. Feeling it go limp, Rex rolled and tossed it over his head into the third one. It yelped with pain as he scrambled up and took off towards the train as fast as he could run, locking his eyes on the woman. She was nearly as tall as he was, dressed in sensible outdoor pants, a pale green blouse, and study boots. Her long hair was tied up at the back, and she had a very pretty face. Behind him the last monster gave chase. The woman gestured frantically to Rex. "Get on! Hurry, I'm out of darts!"

He needed no encouragement. The monster was hot on his tail as he made a wild leap at the little platform on the back of the train. She made a grab at his outstretched hand, locking her grip firmly around his and hauling him forcefully up just in the nick of time.

"You'll pay for your interference and betrayal, Dr Willing!" Raged Upton Julius behind them, shaking a powerful fist at the train. "And I will capture Mr Chance!"

The woman however had not stood around to listen to these pleasantries. She raced inside the train, thrusting the rifle into Rex's hands. The wolf-scorpion reached the platform only seconds behind Rex, and he swung the rifle at the monster like a club. It yelped as the butt of the weapon collided with its head. Rex suddenly felt the entire train shudder, then lift off. The beast snarled with frustration and reared up to swipe at the machine, but managed only to claw at one of the large fans attached to the side before they were out of reach. Rex stared down at the island as it receded swiftly away under them, then turned and went inside, pulling the door closed behind him as they increased speed. The woman had gone straight to a console up a small flight of stairs, and was steering by the means of a gearstick, keeping an eye on several rows of gauges set in panels beside her.

"I don't know who you are, Miss - but thanks." He told her sincerely, only feeling a little shaky now the action was behind them. He leaned back against the wall, unused to the motion of the craft he had so eagerly leaped into. It was not as smooth as a plane, for sure. He could feel conflicting air currents buffering the outside, and felt much closer to the outside world.

She turned her head for a moment to look at him. She'd been navigating through a curved window, which showed the snow-and-ice landscape whizzing by at an alarming rate considered how close to the ground they were. The little steering compartment looked to be a recent addition to the train, allowing her to see where she was going.

"I'm Dr Lucy Willing, a friend and colleague of your father." She told him. Despite her earlier quick reactions and her ease at steering the train, her voice was soft and gentle. Unlike his first impression of Julius, Rex knew he could trust Lucy right away.

"You know my father - where is he?"

"Yes, I-" Lucy was interrupted by a violent lurch of their hovercraft as it tilted alarmingly to one side. Completely unprepared, Rex was thrown away from the wall he'd been leaning on and slid helplessly down the now-sloping floor to crash into the opposite wall. Lucy managed to hang onto the gearstick, although she winced as her shoulder impacted the wall beside her.

"What was that?!" Rex pushed himself away form the wall and was promptly tossed in the other direction as Lucy fought to control the train. "Dammit, the fans have overheated! We must have thrown a rotor!" She exclaimed, quickly judging the nearby island and making a quick turn towards it. For the third time Rex was unbalanced, sliding this time towards where Lucy was steering as the nose of the train dipped earthwards. "What can I do?" He exclaimed, fighting to stay on his feet. Lucy spared him a grim glance, worry evident upon every part of her face. "Hold on!"

Rex lunged for the nearest solid object - a small table - and clung to it for dear life. There was a sudden jarring series of impacts that almost lifted his feet off the floor, accompanied by rapid-fire cracks that sounded like pistol shots from outside. Followed by crackling that sounded horribly like flames. There were no windows at his level of the train, only the one up by Lucy, so Rex couldn't see what was around them. But he knew without a doubt they were coming in for a crash landing.


	3. Exile, Part 2

_**Isla Exsilium**_

"Was that a... typical landing?" Enquired Rex. The lab had come to a halt after crashing through a strand of trees and sliding several metres through the snow, while flames sparked up from the right-hand fan. Lucy and Rex were standing outside, none the worse for wear despite a few scrapes and bruises. This island appeared to be much like the last, blanketed in a thick layer of snow with small rocky hills rising on either side of them.

"Don't start with me, Mr Chance! Oh, my lab..." Lucy shook her head despairingly. "It's going to take forever to get all this damage fixed..."

"Look, I hate to be so much trouble, but I need to know what's going on here!" This whole thing was starting to get a little too baffling for Rex. And he still didn't know where his father was.

"I can explain everything, but first I need your help." Lucy had pulled open a compartment in the side of the train and withdrawn several tools. She then proceeded to quickly set up a large canvas cover over the back portion of the train. Rex took hold of a wooden pole for her while she ran a line from it which attached to a hook in the train's side, supporting the heavy canvas. "You saved my skin - I'll be happy to help in any way I can."

"Good. I'll need some time to repair the lab so we can get off this island, but Upton's goons are bound to be looking for us." Lucy wrinkled her nose, rather endearingly to Rex's eyes, despite her distasteful tone. "There's a village not far from here. They've no love for Julius and his men and may offer to help us. Also, you should scout the surrounding area for animals. Use the dart gun to collect some genetic samples from them, and we'll put together some creatures to defend ourselves with. Grab the dart gun and radio and let's get to work." It appeared Lucy was quite businesslike when there was work to be done, but Rex wondered if he'd heard right.

"Creatures? You mean like those monsters that attacked me?"

Lucy jumped on the statement at once. "Combined creatures are a scientific marvel, Rex, hardly monsters!" She protested passionately. Rex snorted.

"Poison tail, giant fangs... I don't have a dictionary handy, but 'monster' seems appropriate!" He responded, but he did as she asked and picked up a radio and the rifle. She handed him another set of tranquilizer darts. They looked different to any dart Rex had seen before though. Noticing the way he was inspecting them, Lucy explained. "Those are duel purpose darts. They contain sedatives, but take a small blood sample when they hit as well. That's all we need. The effects of the sedatives wear off quickly, so don't waste any time in retrieving the dart from the animal."

He nodded, spying movement from the corner of his eye. Well, no time like the present. A small spiky creature was waddling through the rocks about two lengths of the lab away from them. Rex loaded a dart and raised the rifle.

It was a direct hit and the little animal jumped into the air in surprise at the sting in his side, then slumped down into the snow. Rex jogged over, pleased with himself. It was a porcupine, a medium-sized rodent covered with protective spikes. He pulled out the dart and stored it in the pouch he had on his pelt.

"Good shot!" Called Lucy from where she was crouching over the damaged fan. "The village is up between those hills. My charts show this island is home to coyotes, cougars, and skunks to name a few, so keep your eyes peeled and collect as many samples as you can."

Rex nodded and set off to look for the village. There was really only one direction he could go, since the lab had only just made it onto the island, leaving them with the water at their backs. Which made their position easy to defend, anyway.

Rex collected a sample from both the cougar and the coyote in the short distance to the village. A cluster of five or six igloos were arranged in a circle. Rex eyed a skin stretched over a wooden frame nearby - a skin that began with the head and upper body of a bear and ended in tiger stripes.

A short villager, dark-skinned and clad in thick furs saw him coming. Rex raised his hand in greeting, elongated the word exaggeratedly. "Heellllllloooo!"

The villager eyed Rex with annoyance. "Yeah, what do you want?"

"You speak English! Great! Me...friend. Me... need help."

"You don't say?" The sarcasm was heavy through the little man's thick accent.

"Uh... our magical, um, flying machine has... uh... broken." Rex pointed back along the snowy path he'd taken to get here.

"You mean that hovertrain your lady friend has been hiding here for the last week? We've been meaning to talk to you about that. Ever since she showed up, she's caused us nothing but grief. Two men are looking for her, and have been sending crazy beasts, which smash our igloos and eat our sled dogs!"

Rex was starting to get the picture these guys knew more about what was going on here that he did. The villager continued. "We had to build a fire in the pass just to stay alive, and keep the beasts back, but we are running out of wood! There's one creature up near our temple that's developed a real taste for sled dogs - and we're all out of sled dogs! So do us a favour and get out of here!"

"Believe me, we're trying. Look, you mentioned two men who were looking for the lady I'm with - if I help you fight off the creatures, will you tell me what you know about them?"

"I guess so. But hurry. We don't have much time." The villager gave Rex one last suspicious stare then hurried into a nearby igloo, emerging with an axe over his shoulder. Rex started towards the pass to asses the situation, reaching for his radio.

"Lucy, the villagers said you've been hiding out here for a while, and that men are looking for you. What have I gotten myself into?"

"Julius showed up last week and took your father. I was out on a survey mission and avoided capture. He's been looking for me ever since."

This wasn't making much sense to Rex. "Why?"

"I honestly don't know. All I know is that all this started shortly after your father sent a letter to you. That's how I knew you were coming. My hope was that you could help me find him. He means a great deal to me." Her voice softened on the last sentence and Rex sensed the truth of her words. She obviously looked up to his father.

"To me, too. I'll do what I can... but how are we going to fight off Upton's creatures?"

"With creatures of our own, of course. Combined Creatures are a product of the Sigma Technology, something Dr. Chanikov and I have been working on for several years. Come back to the lab and I'll show you how it works."

On the way back Rex spied a striped black and white animal sniffing around one of the village igloos. Staying well back and taking aim, Rex fired his dart. It was the forth animal he'd taken a sample from and he'd hit every one of them on his first try. He was starting to feel almost useful.

Lucy showed him how to run the samples through the small structure she'd set up beside the lab, the creature chamber. To Rex it looked like a small ray gun powered by a coal burner, but he trusted Lucy knew what she was doing.

Lucy gave him four information sheets, one for each animal he'd collected, and told him to select which creatures he wanted to combine with the console on the chamber. The sheets ran through general information on the animal and graded things like size, strength, speed, the radius of its eyesight, making mention of any special abilities it had. Rex studied the sheet for the coyote. He noted it had a medium defense rating, and had keen senses which according to Lucy's notes, meant it could detect camouflaged and digging units. Well, that sounded like a good idea. High defense meant it would stand up to battle. He flicked to the next page and studied the skunk. He almost laughed out loud when he saw that animal's special ability - a stink cloud! He had to try this. He selected both animals using the console. A little screen lit up above the controls and to Rex's amazement a picture appeared. It was the body of a coyote with the skunk's black and white head attached. There was a row of buttons on either side of the screen with little icons beside them. Rex looked closely at the right-hand side, which had a small picture of the skunk above it. The icons were in the shape of body parts - the head, the body, front and back legs, the tail. Rex selected the tail, and the main image on the screen changed to show the skunk's tail. Rex suddenly understood in a blinding flash - he was able to completely customize the combined animal! He could choose which parts of each one he wanted in the creature! He switched the legs back and forth and noticed that the statistics for speed and defense changed under the picture of the animal. When he changed the head to the coyote's, the attack rating went up.

This was amazing.

He quickly determined that the best combination of these two animals was the entire coyote body and head with the tail of the skunk. The stink cloud ability was connected to the skunk's tail, and the keen sense to the coyote's head. It had good defense and a bite attack. Pleased with the creature, Rex pressed the 'accept' button. The screen informed him his blueprint had been recorded and was now available to build. Going back to the selection screen, Rex tried out the cougar and the porcupine. He noticed two things about the porcupine: that the spines gave it really excellent defense and that it had a ranged attack, quill throw. That got Rex's attention. He immediately understood the tactical advantage of having a ranged attack if the enemy only had close-quarter combat creatures. He put the cougar's legs on the head and body of the porcupine. This creature had even higher defense than the 'Coyunk' had, with a quill throwing attack that had a range of sixteen metres. It also had a higher attack - the cougar's claws and the porcupine's bite and tail swipe all added to the attack score. This was quite fun.

"Rex, I don't think we have much time." Lucy pulled him back into the real world and he hastily turned to her. "I've got two blueprints - how do I create them?"

"There's a selection button right at the top. Just chose which one you want to make. We need to have enough resources, though. The Chamber runs on coal, so if we don't have enough, it doesn't generate enough electricity to creature the creatures."

"Gotcha. All right... let's get this party started." Rex pressed the button to creature a Coyunk.

A minute later there was the hissing sound form the chamber, like a heavy pneumatic door closing. With a flash of colour, out leaped a tough little beast with the body of a coyote and the tail of a skunk.

It was the size of a pony and it looked strong enough to toss a grown man over its shoulder. The eyes, just the eyes of the scorpion-wolves that had attacked him, were a clear milky white. It glanced enquiringly at Rex and he felt himself freeze up for a moment. Standing right there in front of him, breathing, fur ruffling slightly in the snowy breeze, was a completely impossible creature.

"Ah... Lucy?"

"Hmm?"

"What stops our animals from, um... turning against us?"

"They're always under the control of the lab, and the chamber that creates them. The primary control fuses are in the lab, so even if our chamber happens to be destroyed, we always retain control. They respond to verbal cues, which have been recorded into my lab and into their genetic blueprint. So if, for example, Julius attempted to give our animals any directions, they wouldn't recognize his voice signature. Here, watch."

Lucy walked up to the Coyunk and pointed a little in front of the Chamber. "Go over there, guard our base."

The creature gave a little affirmative cough and trotted over to the place Lucy indicated. Rex was impressed. "Very nice... although I think the villagers might appreciate having some back-up." He quickly queued up three more Coyuks and four of the Cogines to build, sending each one to stand beside the first creature as it appeared out of the Chamber. The Cogines were taller than the Coyunks, with sleek feline legs and stubby, spiked tails.

Standing with all eight animals around him, Rex suddenly felt powerful. Purposeful. He turned to wave at Lucy that he was ready, then addressed the creatures. "All right, follow me!" He set off at a run for the village, and around him the creatures all followed suit.

"The fires are dying out!" Screamed a villager as he passed by. Rex rounded the bend in time to see the last flames splutter into nothing, and four enemy creatures leaping over the smoking remains towards the village.

"Stop them! Attack!" Ordered Rex, and his creatures shot forwards to meet them. The Cogines were the first to attack, firing off quills at the advancing enemies. Yelping, the creatures (which were more wolves crossed with what appeared to be a rodent of some description and a coyote-wolf cross) stumbled and raised forepaws to protect themselves, and were completely unprepared for the Coyunk's fierce attacks. Rex's army finished off the enemy creatures very quickly.

Rex looked grimly up through the pass, remembering that the villager had told him of a very big beast by their temple. "Come on, guys. Let's finish this." He set off again with the animals running at his side. They followed the path up a gradual slope, and soon discovered what the villager meant. A massive beast charged down at them, a polar bear from the top half and an ox on the bottom half. Flanking him were four wolf-coyote crosses. Rex quickly discovered the animals would attack whichever of the enemy beasts he told them too. He directed his Coyunks to hold off the polar-ox, while the Cogines swiftly took out the Wolfotes from a safe distance so they wouldn't overwhelm the Coyunks.

The polar-ox managed to claw through one of the Coyunks, although it swiftly fell when the Cogines joined the fight. Rex felt a momentary stab of regret as his combined creature died. Then he headed back to the village and found the same man he had spoken to previously. Lucy was already waiting for him there.

"Right. Now that those creatures are dealt with, tell me what you know about the two men."

"All right. They are on the next island over. The water between the two islands freezes most nights, which is when they send their creatures."

Rex nodded. "So we can probably expect some company by morning. Lucy, can we get the repairs done by then?"

"Yes, but we've got another problem. There was some damage to the fuel tanks when we crashed - we don't have enough to get the lab off the ground." Lucy admitted.

"Fuel?" Questioned the villager. "There's plenty of fuel on the other island."

"Great! Thanks!" Rex told him.

"Okay, bye-bye now. Anything to be rid of you troublesome people." The villager shook his head as Rex and Lucy headed back to the lab.

P 

**exsilium : **_exile, banishment_.


	4. Renewal, Part 1

_From the Journal of Rex Chance, dated June 11th, 1937_

_It's only been a day since I arrived on these islands, but it feels like a week. I haven't slept at all, but somehow I'm not tired. Lucy and I have been working around the clock to repair the hovercraft. This thing is practically held together with chewing gum and bailing wire, with each repair causing two more problems. Our biggest issue remains fuel - there is a depot on the next island, but it's also a fairly obvious place for us to walk into a trap. _

_**Isla Exsilium**_

"There's the fuel depot." Rex pointed out the tank on the next island over. It was a shadowy shape in the early morning light, but easy enough to make out against the snowy backdrop. Rex and Lucy were standing on the top of the small hill Rex had fought the Polar-ox upon the previous day.

"It should be easy enough to get there. The ice has bridged the straight." Lucy pointed out. Rex frowned suddenly, keenly appraising the straight. "I don't think it's going to be that easy - look!" A fresh set of enemy creatures were sniffing about at the far end of the ice bridge.

"Back to the lab! Pick up your feet!"

Although they were both panting when they reached the lab, the enemy creatures didn't seem to have followed them... yet. Lucy went to a nearby coal pile armed with a pick and two pails and started to gather more, so that Rex could create further creatures for defense. He had spied a wolf on their rushed journey back and paused to collect a sample, and soon noticed the colony of lemmings by the lab and added another creature to the genetic library. He set about flicking through the information sheets to discover if there were any useful combinations he could make.

"Perhaps we need to make some tougher, meaner animals to venture to the other island. I've been putting together some new research that will allow us to build more powerful creatures." Lucy told him over chipping the coal. Rex nodded, quickly learning what she meant. The combination of a wolf and a cougar was an impressive one. With the wolf's big bite and cougar's claws, it was a swift, dangerous creature with four special abilities. The wolf had keen senses and something called high endurance, which allowed it to recover faster from poison or sonic attacks and use special abilities at a higher frequency. It also had the wolf's pack hunting bonus, and the cougar's leap attack. The leap attack wasn't evident in the Cogine because it didn't work alongside ranged attacks.

Rex built an experimental Wolf-cougar cross, but somehow the name 'Wolfar' just seemed too odd for the creature when it popped out of the chamber. It was truly a beautiful animal, with the cougar's long legs on the strong lithe body of the wolf. There was something about the face of this creature that just caught Rex's eye. Despite the fact that the animal's eyes were as clear white as the rest, they seemed to shine. Rex had no doubt this was an intelligent animal. He decided suddenly he would only build one, and he named the beast Wolf. He stood quietly to one side, his ears perking in one direction then the other, guarding the base.

"Lucy?" He hoisted the two pails full of coal and left her two empty ones as she chipped at the coal.

"Hmm?"

"When a combined creature dies... what happens? I noticed the bodies of the enemy ones we killed yesterday weren't there anymore. Not even bones."

"It's part of the Sigma Technology , Rex. Your father and I agreed that some balance was needed for combined creatures, since we were making them from essentially nothing. For starters, all combined creatures are sterile. They don't even have the urge to mate, that part of their physiology was left out on purpose. We agreed it would simply make things easier. Therefor when the combined creatures die it isn't the same as a regular animal. They essentially break down from the original blueprint and are absorbed back by their chamber."

Rex's head suddenly snapped up. The enemy creatures they'd seen from the hill were charging down the path towards their base. Calling Wolf and the seven remaining creatures, Rex defended them against the snarling, snapping enemy monsters, swiftly directing his army to methodically pick off the enemy animals one by one. While two of his Coyunks were injured, they were all still standing after the fight. Rex was impressed with Wolf. He had torn fearlessly into an ox-bear cross which must have weighed twice his size without batting an eyelid, and had moved with enough speed that the larger creature hadn't a hope of hitting him. Wolf trotted up to Rex with an enquiring glance, as if asking how well he'd done. Without thinking, Rex reached up to pat the rough hair on his head. The creature uttered a low growl of contentment.

"Good job, but that fuel's not getting here by itself." Lucy reminded him as she set a load of coal down beside the creature chamber. Rex pulled a comical face at Wolf when her back turned. "Gee, why don't I just go over there and ask nice?"

"Why don't you, Mr Chance?" She shot back as she started to chip another load of coal, sending him a cool glance. Hmm, typical. A woman who always wanted the last word. Rex winked at Wolf and flashed Lucy his most charming smile. "Please - just call me Rex."

After several more creatures had been created Rex felt he had sufficient enough numbers to face the depot. He called the small army to him and was pleased with the quick response. Telling Lucy he'd be as quick as he could, they set off.

He quickly realized that he was the slowest member of the team. The animals could move much faster than he could - well over twice his speed, in Wolf's case. He had to direct them to an area in front of them and have them wait while he caught up. He'd have to think about that little problem.

They crossed the bridge of ice, treading warily. Wolf led the way, and Rex noticed that the other animals seemed to follow him, stepping in the same places he did. Interesting.

Rex inched up towards the depot, making sure to keep close to his creatures. Sure enough there were several enemy creatures waiting for them, lying or pacing around the depot. Rex and the animals crept as close as they could without detection. The head of am enemy wolf (rather crudely tacked onto the squat body of a lemming) swung towards them, sniffing the air suspiciously.

"Now! Attack!" Yelled Rex, leaping to his feet. Wolf sprang eagerly away from his side, leading the Coyunks into battle. The Cogines quickly formed a semi-circle and fired a barrage of quills into the enemy ranks at Rex's direction, once again distracting them and letting the close-range fighters in to finish the job. This time there were more enemy creatures and two of the Coyunks were defeated, but the rest of the animals were still healthy.

Wolf's savage snarls drew Rex's attention to a set of drums, behind which a terrified henchman was cowering, shaking badly enough to start an earthquake. Rex wanted to laugh when Wolf glanced sideways at him. He was showing every pretense of aggression, with his neck fur standing up and his long teeth bared, but there was a laughing look in his pale, pupilless eyes. Rex strode up beside Wolf and laid a hand on his neck. The henchman cowered even further. "I surrender! Don't let your creature eat me!" He pleased. Rex scowled unforgivably at the man, taking his cue from Wolf. "Give us some of your fuel and I won't let them hurt you!" He demanded with authority, as if he were in the business of ordering other people around.

"Sure, sure!" Agreed the henchman hastily, relieved beyond measure. "I'll even carry it for you! But you and your creatures will have to protect me. I don't like bein' eaten."

Rex nodded and the henchman picked up a drum over each shoulder. "Come on, this way!" Rex ordered the henchman, then turned to his creatures. "Follow us closely. Attack any enemy forces we encounter on the way."

As it turned out they only encountered four enemy animals just across the ice bridge. Knowing there was only one way to the lab and that his creatures were defending it, Rex and the henchman left the creatures in battle. Wolf led them well and when all four were defeated he tracked the humans trail back to the lab, picking up a run, and the rest of the army followed him. They all caught up and arrived at the lab at the same time.

"I gots gas!" Announced the henchman brightly, setting the drums down beside the lab. Rex laughed as he ruffled Wolf's neckfur as way of praise. "Do you ever!" He chuckled. Lucy rolled her eyes and showed the henchman where to fuel the lab up. "Charming." She commented dryly. "This should keep us flying for a while."

"I done good then?" Asked the henchman hopefully.

"Yeah." Rex nodded. "Look, I've got a proposition for you."

The henchman shuffled his feet awkwardly and looked at the ground. "Geez, I'm flattered Mr Chance, but I don't, uh, I'm not into... you know."

Rex laughed. "Look friend, it's nothing like that. You seem like a competent guy" - and here both Lucy and Wolf looked like they were about to laugh - "How would you like to work for us?" Rex finished.

"I don't like Julius one bit, but if I work for you, he'll send Whitey after me."

"What's a Whitey?" Asked Rex, puzzled. Lucy answered for him. "He's referring to Whitey Hooten, Julius's head thug who keeps all the men in line. Most of them hate Julius, but do what he says because they're afraid of the consequences."

Rex nodded in understanding. It made sense that Upton Julius would employ someone like that. He turned to the henchman. "Listen pal, if you help us out, I promise I'll protect you."

"Well, uh, they'd probably kill me for failing to capture youse anyway, so, all right. I'll help ya's. There's a structure at the base you might want to take a look at. It makes the beasts extra tough."

Rex exchanged glances with Lucy and nodded. "We should move closer to the enemy base. The depot should be perfect - let's go. Wolf, meet us there."

exsilium : _exile, banishment_.


	5. Renewal, Part 2

"I don't think it's a good idea to stick around, Rex." Lucy cautioned as the lab came to a stop on the flat land beside the depot. Looking rather green, the henchman climbed down to the ground from the wooden platform, unsteadily. Rex just jumped down, nodding approvingly as he saw Wolf leading the other creatures towards their new location. "Objection noted. But I don't want Whitey's goons attacking the villagers the moment we're gone, and I'm going to need you to take a look at this structure. The henchman can gather the coal, and we'll go spoil Whitey's fun!" He offered her a hand, which she ignored completely as she jumped down herself.

The henchman sighed heavily a Lucy showed him were the pick and pails were kept. "I shoulda stayed in school. I'm tired of chippin' coal." He grumbled as he set off towards the nearby pile.

"Shoulda, woulda, coulda, pal!" Rex replied unfeelingly as he helped Lucy set up a new creature chamber. They were going to need a bigger army if they were going to take down a whole base. When he had fifteen feirce Coyunks ready to go and ten tough Cogines to provide cover-fire - as well as Wolf - Rex and Lucy set off. There had been several small but frequent attacks while the extra creatures were being combined which served to underline to Rex that they needed such an impressive force to take down this base.

Impressive it was. Rex directed the army with precious and skill, and Wolf attacked like a madbeast. Lucy was quick to survey the rounded building with a tall spire right near the front of the base. "All right Rex, I have the plans for this genetic amplifier. It's a very impressive piece of work, so I doubt Whitey had anything to do with it. We'll know more when we build it."

Rex nodded an affirmative and directed his animals to take down the enemy building. "Right, then I want you to get back to base and build it. I have a feeling we're going to need every advantage we can get."

The creatures ripped effectively through the genetic amplifier, but it drew attanrion from the main portion of th base. A doezen enemy creatures arrived on the scene as the building crumbled, and Rex quickly set up his attack formation again. After disposing of the enemies they moved further along and found the creatrue chamber, guarded by several powerful-looking ox-crosses. It was a brutal battle since Rex's creatures were already injured and tired. He urged them on every step of the way, sometimes no more than an arm's length away from a battle. It was rather brutal to observe up close. The Coyunks snarled and snapped and threw themselves at the much large enemy beasts, which responded with powerful charges and blows with their battering-ram horns. The they won out in the end, and started to take down the chamber. His radio crackled.

"The genetic amplifier lets us improve our creature designs in key areas. Dr. Chanikov only speculated about such technology. I'm going to keep tinkering with it and see if we can fine tune our own genetic designs. How are you doing?"

"Sounds great. We're fine, I think we'll be done before too long. There's a small lab and we've still got to finish off the chamber. I'll radio you soon."

Once the chamber and the lab had collapsed in ruins, Rex contacted Lucy to come and pick him up. The lab landed nearby, with the unhappy henchman sitting sadly on the wooden deck, holding tightly to a rung weilded to the rear of the train. "I just don't like bein' inside that thing when its flyin'." He told Rex as he climbed up besie him, rubbing his stomach. Rex laughed, then turned back to look at the animals.They had done an admirable job, obeying his commands and pushing themselves to their limits, and they were exhasted. Having recieved no further directions from him, some of them had started to wander about, lick their injuries, or even lie down to sleep. Except for Wolf. The cougar-wolf cross was sitting pateitnly just in front of him, waiting for his next orders. Rex suddenly knew he couldn't let the most intelligent of his animals just be broken down and absorbed back into a blueprint like the rest of them would be. He patted his leg and without hesiation Wolf jumped up on the platform beside him, licking his hand like a dog. Rex laughed and gestured for Wolf to follow him inside, ignoring the wide-eyed stare from the henchman.

"Did that henchman sit outside the entire ride?" He asked Lucy. She was standing at the console checking several gauges before they took off again. "Well he seems quite queasy when he's inside, so I thought it'd be hapiest for all concerned if he got some fresh - Rex, what on earth is that creature doing inside my lab?" Wolf looked up at Lucy and wagged his tail politely. Rex have her his best puppy-dog eyes. "Lucy, I couldn't just leave him back there. He's different from the rest of them. Please?"

"Oh, all right." Sighed Lucy, eyeing the animal who had sat down at Rex's side, for all the world like a pet dog. A pet dog the size of a large horse. "But if he makes a mess inside..!"

Rex laughed as the lab shuddered and rose into the air, and outside the henchman groaned. "We're out of here!"

"Where to?" Enquired Lucy as they steered away from the island. She handled the flying lab with an easy eficency, the type that only came from long hours practice.

"Well I'm here for my father, so let's head back to his lab and see if we can find anything there."

"Whitey's men are sure to look for us there." Lucy cautioned. Rex ruffled Wolf's ears and smiled grimly. "I'm betting on it, Lucy."


	6. Fathers and Sons, Part 1

**Impossible Creatures: Fathers and Sons, Part 1 **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Rex Chance, Impossible Creatures, or any of its characters. **

**Summary: Rex and Lucy return to Dr. Chaniokv's island in the hopes of locating him...**

"I'll have my men cut ya to pieces and use ya as bait" - Whitey Hooten.

_From the research diary of Dr. Lucy Willing, dated June 13th, 1937. _

_Case Profile: Whitey Hooten._

_My charts indicate we're about to enter the territory of Whitey Hooten, one of Julius's right-hand men. He's not the sharpest knife in the drawer, but his brute strength and quick temper make a big impression on the men, keeping them in line and on schedule with Julius's plans. It doesn't hurt that he's practically a legend in these parts. He's famous for being a notorious whaler, hunting down the poor things over the great south seas. I've heard stories of him breaking pack ice just by yelling at it, and catching whales with his bare hands. These can hardly be believed, but that doesn't make him any less dangerous. _

_**Isla Undisonus **_

_**June 13th, 1937**_

They landed in a sheltered area with a cliff running around the south and west sides. A trail, frozen slick with ice, ran diagonally from the northeast up past their landing site. A small village was tucked against the cliff, looking much the same as on the last island they had left.

"I don't know, Mr Chance. Coming back to Dr Chanikov's lab seems like a pretty dangerous idea to me." Lucy was cautioning Rex as they set up the rear cover on the lab.

"My father might have escaped Julius's attack. He might still be alive somewhere on this island." Rex replied stubbornly, leaning his shoulder against a support pole while Lucy fixed it in place. On the other side, Wolf lent against as well, helping take some of the weight off Rex.

"After three days in the bitter cold?" She protested.

"Don't you think we owe it to him to at least try?" responded Rex, a heated note entering his voice. Wolf's eyes went from one human to the other and he folded his ears and uttered a little canine sigh. Humans growled at one another too much. They never seemed to pay attention to body language at all.

Lucy looked a little ashamed and her tone was apologetic at her next words. "I'm sorry, you're right. Even if we don't find him we might find some clues to his whereabouts." She finished on a more positive note, checking the final rope. Rex indicated towards the nearby igloos. "Look, there's a villager."

"Welcome." The face of his man, although he could have been a twin to the last native they spoke to, was more serious. He barely flickered an eye at Wolf standing watchfully to one side. "The totem spirits indicated you were coming."

Much as Rex wanted to question that strange statement, he stuck to business. "I'm looking for my father. He used to work on this island."

"Was he the tall, white-haired fellow with the glasses? Lived in the big concrete building?"

"I haven't seen him in many years, but that sounds about right."

"He disappeared when the short man and the big man showed up a few days ago. If you plan to look for him, be careful. The big white bear has two structures with powerful magic that many creatures come out of, creatures like your one here. Many of our people have been hurt."

Rex's expression darkened. "Maybe I can help you out - I've had about enough of seeing innocent people get hurt."

"Rex, I don't know if we have time for this." protested Lucy, but Rex shook his head firmly. "We'll _make _time, Lucy."

"I will send a guide soon." The villager told them, nodding as he headed back to his igloo. Rex looked to Lucy. "Looks like we might run into a fight sooner than we'd like, so we'd best build up a base quickly."

"And we'll need more coal." Lucy pointed out as they went to set up a creature chamber. The henchman went to work on a nearby coal-pile, relieved to have his feet back on solid ground. Rex helped Lucy build the genetic amplifier, a smaller building that attached to the top of the lab and could be easily dismantled during travel. "So what, exactly, does this thing do?" Rex asked her. He turned to check on Wolf, who was scouting the borders of their new camp. The creature chamber was already starting to produce more Cougines and Coyunks.

"From what I've been able to discover, we'll be able to boost the strength of our animals in key areas - defense, attack, and so on."

"That sounds promising."

"It could make a vital difference to our creatures. The stronger any single creature is the less of them we'll need. It's a worthwhile strategy - and that makes me sure Whitey isn't involved. He's all brute strength, and very little brains."

"Well, he's the first step in finding my father, in any case. What type of animals live on this island, Lucy? We may need stronger blueprints."

"Let me see... Grizzly bears, Wolverines, Rams, and Musk Oxen. You should be able to combine something useful out of those."

They had finished the amplifier and Rex shoulder the dart gun grimly. "I'm going to take Wolf and see if I can find some more animals to collect samples. If the villager's scout is ready I'll get the lie of the land, too. Keep the creatures close, alright?"

Lucy gave him an appraising once-over. "Rex, I don't mean to pry, but you seem awfully good at this ordering and fighting. What did you do before you came here?" Her question was forthright, and born of honest curiosity instead of noisiness. He answered her with the same honesty. "I was a war correspondent until about a month ago."

"I always wondered why your father was so excited when we got newspapers here. Wait, what happened a month ago?"

Rex took a deep breath, but he was merely organizing his thoughts, not avoiding the question. Somehow he knew Lucy would understand.

"I was covering the Spanish civil war. The fascists attacked the village I was in, and... there was this wounded soldier. A kid. I guess something just snapped inside me. See, the first rule of journalism is, you don't interfere."

"And you interfered." She finished.

"Yeah. I was lucky to escape with my life. When I got back States-side, I was fired, but that was fine. I hoped I'd seen my last war."

"And then you came here."

"I had to. A man has to know his past to know... who he is." Lucy was touched by this statement. "You seem like a good man to me, Rex." She told him gently. He adjusted the strap of the dart gun and sighted up the icy path.

"Let's hope I'm good enough."

Before he could set off, there was a growl from Wolf, which build quickly into an angry snarl. Almost directly above their base, just over the icy path, Rex caught movement up a gentle snowy slope. A call brought the half-dozen creatures to his side, and he and Wolf led the way over the path. Curious to see what had upset the formerly quiet Wolf, Lucy followed just behind them.

A group of four enemy creatures were guarding a large circular structure, and warning growls sounded as they assembled at its base. Rex signaled the Cougines and they fired a set of needlelike quills, then Wolf and the three Coyunks bounded forward. They were merely finishing the job, and escaped with only minor bloodshed.

Lucy examined a control panel on the outside of the building. "Now this is what I call a generator!" She exclaimed, tapping commands into the panel. "A pity it's so large, we'd never have the raw materials to build one ourselves. You know Rex, there's no reason I can't learn to dismantle enemy structures."

He was standing next to her, and his brow furrowed at her words. "Do you think that's wise? You'd be exposing yourself to some danger."

"Not so long as you or the creatures are nearby." she replied, already having developed faith in him where his tactics were concerned.

"Go right ahead, then. A little sabotage... I like the sound of that."

Lucy continued to enter commands, and only a few seconds later there was a sharp hum, then the building powered down, becoming silent and dark. Lucy smiled at Rex, picked up a rock, and cracked the face of the panel.

"Well, I can see where I'm not needed. I won't be long." Leaving the small group of creatures behind and taking only Wolf, he entered the village, where the scout was waiting, and they started down the ice trial. The villager kept a nervous distance from Wolf, as if expecting the powerful wolf-cougar cross to spring at him at any moment. There was only one way to go along the trail, since one the right side a sheer cliff towered overhead, blocking out much of the light. The slope on the left was rougher and not as steep, with snow-dusted pines clinging to largest ledges. Rex thought he could have climbed it if he had to. The Wolverine was the first animal they came across. Rex knew something of the fierce, scrappy little animals and was pleased to take a sample.

As the sharp right-hand cliff gave way to an equally impassive wall of ice, the scout drew to a stop. "Go further to the waterfall - one structure is to the left, the other to the right." He instructed, then scurried back down the trial.

Rex glanced at Wolf and shrugged. "May as well keep going." He told his faithful shadow, and Wolf bounded ahead as if he'd understood the words. Only a minute or so along the trail, Wolf pulled up short with a warning growl. He backed up into Rex, then turned his head to give the man a firm nudge. Rex was confused until Wolf dropped into a crouch, the stalking pose used by big cats when hunting. He ducked down and they crept ahead carefully, utilizing the ground cover. He saw a tall, thin tripod structure ahead with some sort of conical device on top, like an oversized loudspeaker. He reached for the radio on his belt.

"Lucy, could you bring the creatures up here? I want you to take a look at this."

With a small army at their backs, Lucy peered at the unfamiliar structure with a pair of binoculars. Rex had spied a ram leaping agily over the low reaches of the left cliff, but was still close enough to hear Lucy. "That's interesting! I'll have to give Whitey a little more credit - looks like he's come up with a sonic weapon."

"Well, best not let it go to his head." Rex handed her the sample from the ram. Stay here until the creatures draw it's fire - don't get close until then." Rex leaped to his feet and rallied their army with a battlecry.

The weapon was only guarded by a further four enemy creatures and with their usual tactics, they were soon defeated. Rex directed the creatures to attack the three posts of the weapon, which had started firing a barrage of sound waves. Two of the Coyunks had fallen and he noticed how tired his creatures seemed. Lucy waited until the tower was leaning precariously and its aiming failing, then slipped in for a closer look. As soon as she nodded at Rex, he let their army finish it off. The three legs collapsed, and Lucy shoved one aside to salvage the loudspeaker part. "If I study this, we should be able to make these ourselves."

"Good. Take it back to the base, and create a few more creatures for defence. I'll be back once I've found the ox and the bear, to create new blueprints."

With the tower out of the way, Rex, Wolf and the army of creatures continued further ahead. A sudden break in the left wall inspired exploration, and they found a virtually unguarded workstation that lasted a very short frame of time against their ferocity.

Rex shifted through the wreckage and wondered if it had been the first building the guide was talking about. He decided it must not been, merely an offshoot of a larger base. One workstation didn't constitute much of a threat to the village, since by itself it would produce no creatures.

They followed the left trail up over a hill, the Cougines labouring a little on the slope with their short legs. At the base of the hill Rex could easily see another pair of soundbeam towers - he knew they would find the base beyond them. Throwing out his arm, he yelled a battlecry and charged with his creatures.

The fight was more brutal than previous ones. The base sent several waves of their creatures to defend it, and they had the advantage over Rex's of being fresh. But Rex's tactics won out in the end, and panting heavily he surveyed the results. The first soundbeam towers had been backed up by a second set beside the enemy lab, and the creature chamber had pumped out fresh foes until it had been torn down. Rex's Coyunks had all been decimated, first to draw the line of fire from the soundbeam towers. One remaining Cougine looked on its last legs, one a little battered and the last three seemed more or less unscathed. Rex himself had taken a bite on the ankle from a vicious coyote-lemming cross and was leaning on Wolf for support. Wearily, he directed his leftover creatures take down the lab, the nearby workshop and a few storage buildings.

The lab had just crumbled in a flaming ruin when the radio crackled and Lucy's voice rang out frantically. "Come quickly Rex! Enemy creatures are attacking the base!"

Rex cursed. This little base they'd just taken down couldn't have been the primary one, and in leaving the main trail he'd left it wide open for enemy creatures! Lucy had a small force of creatures herself but they couldn't be doing well from the panic in Lucy's voice. He whistled sharply to get the Cougines' attention and ordered them back to base, top speed. But with their swift pace and his own ankle injured, he'd never be able to keep up.

He wasn't sure where the idea came from. Perhaps it was Wolf itself, standing beside Rex so the man could lean on him. Rex felt the creature's white eyes turn and lock onto his own. His heart thudded. Did he dare?

Without thinking the matter though any further he threw his good leg over Wolf's side, grabbed his thick neckfur and heaved himself to his back. Wolf was the size of a large horse and for a moment he almost fell back, then Wolf turned his canine head and shoved him firmly and he was up. There was a moment of sheer triumph and freedom that this magnificent wild beast would allow a mere man to ride on his back, then Lucy's face flashed through his thoughts.

"Wolf, quickly!" It was all the signal the sharp creature needed. Like an arrow from a bow he sprang, long legs extending, claws biting into the ground, great flurries of snow kicked backwards. They overtook the slower Cougines in seconds.

Riding Wolf was _not_ like riding a horse. Wolf moved so fast the ground looked lethal. His stride was smooth but so powerful each time his paws hit the ground in quick succession Rex felt he would be thrown clear over the hilltop. He crouched down over Wolf's neck, clutching his ruff and gripping grimly with his knees, brown hair and black-and-grey fur whipping backwards in the wind. It was the most thrilling, wild, exciting thing he'd ever done in his life.

**Author's note. There's a bit of a discrepancy with the dates between Lucy's diary and the tag upon reaching the island. Lucy says herself 'Dated June **_**fifteenth**_**' in the diary voiceover, but when the video takes over we're given the caption: 'Isla Undisonus, June 13th.' I've made both these the 13th but might edit this later when I see the next chapter's date, since I tend to think it's a mistake on Relic's part. It makes no sense to me for it to be purposeful, since that would mean Lucy is writing a case profile on Whitey two days **_**after**_** encountering him. Watch this space. **

**Next half up soon! **


	7. Fathers and Sons, Part 2

Rex's eyes widened as Wolf led them towards their base. Lucy was out in front of the creature chamber, swinging her rifle at a lemming-coyote to drive it back. Rex nearly flew off Wolf's back altogether as he snarled a warning and pounced, landing with a jarring impact on the enemy creature. Rex uttered a shout of alarm when sharp coyote fangs snapped next to his ear. A moment later Wolf seized the smaller creature's neck, closing his powerful jaws and severing its spine.

Rex slid off the hybrid's back, anxiously calling to Lucy. "Are you alright?"

She was still standing in front of it, the blazing light of battle in her eyes replaced by disbelief. "Rex, were you just... riding Wolf?"

"It was the quickest way." He explained. "I can't keep up with the creatures' pace when they're on the move."

"Well, you got here just in time." The Cougines and Wolf had set to work finishing off the few stray enemy creatures around the border of the base. Rex checked over the chamber. Like Lucy, it has escaped harm. He qued up some more creatures while he was there. They had been lucky to get off uninjured.

"Are you sure they didn't hurt you?" He questioned Lucy, picturing her fighting off the enemy waves with the butt of her rifle. Next time he should take her with him - at least then he could keep an eye on her!

"I'm completely fine. They were trying to slip up that little hill, probably trying to see what became of their generator. A scouting party, no more."

"Well, just to be sure I'm leaving at a bigger force of creatures here to protect you." Rex promised, hobbling a step to the nearest rock. Lucy noticed his limp. "What have you done to yourself?"

"Oh, just a little bite wound. It's nothing." He assured her. She shook her head firmly. "Nonsense. Let me get the first aid kit."

Despite Rex's protests, she bound his ankle firmly, after smearing it with a salve to ward off infection. "You shouldn't really walk on that."

"No problem. Wolf will give me a lift - right fella?" He slapped Wolf's side affectionately. The oversized hybrid was sprawled next to him, head and ears raised watchfully. Lucy shook her head in wonder. "The things you do, Mr Chance..."

"Hey, we didn't start this. Now, I'm going to create some more designs. Our creatures are wearing out too quickly, we need something a little tougher."

With Wolf beside him letting the man use him as a prop, Rex made his way to the chamber and pulled up some blueprints.

He wanted the success of the porcupine's ranged attacked to remain the backbone of his army. Quickly scanning through his options, he combined it with the large, heavy musk ox. After changing a few body sections around he settled on the ox's body and legs with the porcpine's head and tail. The resulting Oxine had nearly three times as much health as the Cougine, and it's wider-ranged quill throw attack did more damage.

To back up the Coyunks in close combat Rex tried out the fierce little wolverine with the ox. The health stat nearly blew him away. He wanted Wolvoxes in his army. It also had something called 'frenzy' from the wolverine that allowed it to deal more damage in battle. Interesting.

Once he had several of the new Wolvox and Oxine added to his army, Rex looked down at Wolf. "We ready to go, big guy?"

Wolf growled his agreement and nudged Rex firmly, almost pushing him over. He crouched down so Rex could scramble onto his back with more ease.

"Lucy, have the lab prepped to go. I have a feeling we're not going to be long." Rex said grimly, and she nodded. "Be careful!"

Directly up the icy path, the new army tore down a final soundbeam tower as if it were made of origami. Please with their response, Wolf and Rex led them up up a slope and around a curve, where they were charged by some ram-wolverine crosses. The Oxine fired their quills, breaking up the force charges for the Wolvox to take care of. Rex felt like covering his eyes as Wolf sprang recklessly into battle, raking his extended claws down the side of a polar bear/ox hybrid. The tough creature swung around and tried to claw Wolf back, but even with Rex on his back he was too fast to be hit. He dodged the paw, which was around the size of a bike wheel, then darted around the beast and caught an ankle between his teeth. Hamstringing effectively halted the enraged bear/ox, and Rex and Wolf left him for their Oxine to finish off. The rest of the creatures had started on the enemy creature chamber, stopping every so often as it produce a fresh enemy for them to cut down.

As the chamber fell, a harsh, gravelly voice snarled at them. "You festering dogs! You'll wish you never set foot on MY island!"

Rex stared around him, baffled. "What the heck is that?"

"It's coming in over the radio. It's Whitey Hooten - half thug, half whale hunter, all angry, all the time." Lucy told him.

"I'll have my men cut ya's to pieces and use ya as bait!" Threatened Whitey, Rex raised an eyebrow.

"Friendly sort, ain't he?"

"A real gentleman." Lucy replied dryly.

Rex continued up the icy-slicked path on Wolf's back. They encountered one last workshop just as the path widened into a snow-covered plain. The few final enemy creatures left to guard it barely got near Rex's army, the Oxine cut them down so swiftly.

As the army set upon the workshop, Wolf's growled softly to get Rex's attention, then swung around. Rex recognized where they were at once. His father's silent lab towered over them.

"Hello? Father?" Called Rex. Lucy had instructed him to leave his radio channel open. As soon as she heard Rex's call to his father she flew the lab up to join him.

"Maybe he's inside?" She suggested once she'd arrived to find Rex investigating the door into the lab. He nodded.

"If I'm not out in five minutes, save yourself and leave the island. No wait, that's silly." Rex realized what he was saying. "If I'm not out in five minutes, come and make sure I haven't locked myself in or something!

A few minutes later he appeared in the doorway of the lab. "No sign of my father. I did find something interesting, though - neurotoxin darts! I think my father have had them for protection against these creatures. There were a few missing."

As he emerged, Wolf uttered the loudest snarl Rex had ever heard. Creeping towards them from around the corner of a lab was the tiger-mantis cross Rex had first seen inside his father's lab. Then it had been suspended in a tube of liquid. Now... now the tiger face bristled, teeth bared. Long, wicked praying mantis legs propelled it forward.

Wolf sprang and met it in midair. Four Oxine spikes buried themselves in its body as Wolf savaged the tiger head. It was dead before its horrible, mutated body hit the snow.

Rex grabbed the radio. If they could hear him, he reasoned he could hear them.

"Your men have been beaten! The gig's up, Hooten! Tell me where my father is or we're coming after you next!" Threatened Rex in a low, dangerous voice.

"Is that all you want?" Whitey's mocking tones came back over the radio. "Long lost daddy. I'll tell you where he is, all right, but you'll need a shovel if you want to see him. He's buried nearby!" The whaler broke off into a roar of laughter. Horrified, Lucy hugged herself, speechless.

Rex pounded a clenched fist into his open palm. "Shut that radio off!" He growled in a low, dangerous voice.

Wolf whined and padded a short distance away, lying down on his belly in the snow. Before him was a heap of rocks around half as long as he was. A crude wooden cross had been jammed at the head of the pile.

Rex slowly moved to stand in front of the grave. He bowed his head, his eyes closing. It had all been for nothing. His father... they'd killed his father.

Lucy had never felt so lost. As she had turned to Dr. Chanikov so many times in her life before, now she turned to his son.

"What now, Rex?"

Rex's head lifted, his eyes opened. His brows lowered a fraction, the only sign of his cold, deadly anger.

"Take me to _Whitey Hooten_."

**A/N**

**I know, you'd all but given up on me by now. Life, other fanfics, and my novel do get in the way of my fic but a friend has convinced/bribed me into continuing this one, and so I am. **

**Working on the fourth chapter now! **


	8. Ship Wreck, Part 1

**Chapter Four - Ship Wreck**

**"The school of hard knocks is an accelerated cirriculum" - Menander **

The lab had settled for the night in a small, sceduled valley on a tiny uninhabited island. With the fall of night low, omnious clouds had gathered. By middnight the storm broke, and fork lightning zigzagged through the skies all around. Heavy rainfall poured straight down and rattled on the lab roof. Despite the constant roar of thunder that kept Lucy awake, in his small cabin Rex slept. It was not a peaceful sleep, though. His rolled from one side to the other, his bare chest rising and falling in deep, ragged breaths. Eventually his eyes opened, and he sat up in his bunk, placing his head in his hands.

From the journal of Rex Chance, June 14th, 1937

_Had a strange dream last night, incredibly vivid. Could've sworn I was there, running through the woods. Everywhere I looked I saw what I expected to see, only not in the way I expected to see it. I felt as though I could sense everything, down to the tiniest blade of grass. I was aware of everything... including an overwhelming sadness. _

**Isla Glacialis**

**June 14th, 1937 **

A panicked hencman was reporting to a towering, chalky-white figured dressed in a thick anorak. Behind them a ship the size of a small tanker was frozen in the ice. Silent, alert ram-wolf crosses stood on guard duty.

"And uh, they seemed to have a lot of animals, Boss. Maybe we oughta call Mr. Julius?"

Whitey spat comtemuously at the henchman, missing him. "And since when have we been worried about a couple of animals? We'll beam 'em from one side of this iceberg to the other, and we'll enjoy it, t'boot. Understand?"

"Sure, sure boss, I was just thinkin-'"

"Thinking? Ha! That's a laugh. Tell the rest of those fools to be on the lookout.

"Eh, yes boss." He scurried off obediently.

"And get that blasted generator fixed. And bring me my bleedin' coffee!" The last order was roared violently after the henchman as he swiftly retreated.

* * *

"Whitey's base is on this island." Lucy told Rex as she steered the lab around the perminetere of a glacier.

"How do you know?" Rex stood at a window, scouting the island for possible landing spots with binoculars.

"You don't work for Julius for five years without learning a few things."

"Worked for him? You didn't tell me you worked for Julius!" Rex couldn't hide the surprise in his voice.

"You never asked." She replied, matter-of-factly. "Your father and I both worked for him. He wasn't always a bad guy, Rex. Your father told me Julius saved his life once."

"You had no idea all this was going on? Hey, good people don't turn bad overnight, Lucy!" He found a promising-looking break in the ice, but Lucy had already noticed and was heading for it, skimming the lab low over the floes of ice.

"Our excitement over the Sigma technology blinded us to Julius's true nature." In hindsight, Lucy reflected, the warning signs had been there. "I think deep down both of us knew something was up, we just didn't expect it to go as high as Julius. That's why your father send you that letter."

Rex turned his head away as they approached a flat area to land in. "Unfortunately, he sent it too late." He said grimly.

"For Dr. Chanikov, yes. But maybe we can set things right by putting a stop to Julius before he hurts anybody else. Sigma was the pinnacle of your father's career. I know he wouldn't want it to fall into the wrong hands."

They touched down. "Then, if nothing else, I owe it to him. The Sigma technology is far too powerful to remain in the hands of people like Whitey Hooten and Upton Julius." Rex and Lucy headed outside, where the ever green-faced henchman was riding on the platform. He got to work with a bucket and a pick on the nearest coal pile while Rex and Lucy set up.

They were hemmed in by the glacier, which had pushed impenetrable barriers of rock up in its wake. The ocean was to their south and to the north-west was a narrow pass leading up into the glacier, easily defendable. Wolf set off to stretch his legs with a perimeter scout. The east rock face was marked by several now familiar clusters of igloos.

A villager dashed over to meet them once Wolf was far enough away. He beamed at Rex, casting an appreciative eye over Lucy. "Your woman is very pretty. Is she for sale?"

"Thanks!" Rex said with a grin. "What are you offering?"

Lucy folder her arms across her chest and glared, the picture of indignance. "_Rex Chance_, how DARE you?" She snapped stormily, and Rex hastily retracted his joke.

"Uh, I mean..." Rex cleared his throat. "She's not for sale. We're here to find Whitey Hooten."

The villiager all but rolled in the snow, he started laughing so hard. "Oh, you are so dead!" He spluttered in between bursts of rapid-fire laughter.

Rex shot Lucy a grim look, all joking forgotten. "I _don't_ think he likes our chances."

"We'd better get to work them."

Rex whistled Wolf and set out with his dart gun. His radio crackled as they explored a very short distance from the base.

"Whitey might have some new technology on this island. We should try to check it out." Lucy told him, static making it hard to hear some of her words. He kept a sharp lookout for any signs of enemy creatures, but so far it was all quiet.

Rex found the polar bear a short way up the path. Wolf sensibly kept his distance until Rex tranked it. Back at the base a lobster scuttling towards the ocean provided the next sample. After he'd collected it, Rex noticed there was a snowy owl circling lazily just over the lab. He frowned, wondering what the best means would be to tranquilize the bird without it plummeting out of the sky and injuring itself. Rex needed samples, and wings would certainly add a touch of spice to their cookpot, but he wasn't cruel by nature. He didn't want to hurt any of the animals he was collecting DNA from.

He chose the smallest dart, the same one he'd used on the lobster, more for stunning very small animals than knocking them out. He was getting very accurate with the dart gun - he rarely missed anymore. He hit the owl in its breast feathers an quickly jogged after it. The bird's flight dipped, its wingbeats getting heavy. It headed for the treeline, but flew slower and lower until it dropped gently into the snow just a few feet from Rex. Pleased, he collected the sample he needed then lifted the bird carefully into the shade of the trees, putting it on a broad branch so it wouldn't be lying in the cold snow.

"Wolf, stay here and watch that owl until it recovers." Instructed Rex. The big hybrid looked up at his master and licked his lips. Rex shook a warning finger. "No! No eating it!" Wolf uttered a canine sigh and lay down in front of the owl's tree.

It brought to mind a problem Rex had thought of the previous evening after they'd stopped to camp on the small island. He had shared a generous amount of his own dinner, tinned meat supplemented with fresh fish, with Wolf. But he realized that an animal Wolf's size and with his metabolism needed more than a handful of tinned spam. Sooner or later, he was going to have to let Wolf hunt.

But just then he had other things to concentrate on - he had new blueprints to create.

He left to Oxine as the primary backbone of his force, the reliable ranged attacked unit. The lobster had two very large assets in its favour. The first of those was a new ability - that of regeneration. In between fights, or even on the battlefield itself, the lobster's regenerative capabilities had been transferred to its new sigma body, allowing a natural healing process. Like with the ranged attack units, Rex knew instantly the value of having a self-repairing creature. They would always be fresh and healthy, ideal for a front-lines based attack unit.

The second advantage the lobster had was its size. Being tiny didn't seem like much use. Its claws and bite were too small to do any real damage. But the amount of damage the lobster did when combined with something lagre, like the ox, was incredible. After some initially adjusting, Rex settled on the entire Ox body, but with lobster claws framing either side of the ox's head. He had almost been too scared the leave the head as that of the lobster. He wasn't quite sure he was ready to look into a giant crustacean face that was big enough to take his head off in one casual munch. As it was, his resulting Lobsox wasn't exactly a good-looking animal. The huge lobster claws were unwieldy - but appearances aside, Rex had created a creature with both high defense and health, excellent melee attack capabilities and the very useful regen ability.

He started production. He settled on a steady pattern of two Oxine to every Lobsox. The front-line attackers were the ones to bare the brunt of enemy attacks, but the more ranged backup they had the less time they spent in the line of fire in the first place.

He had a small army of half a dozen ready when the first enemy creatures sniffed them out. The polar-bear ox cross that had seemed so formidable was no match for the merciless lobster claws and accurate quill throwing. A trio of comparatively smaller ram-wolves were also taken down, Wolf showing no mercy as he closed his teeth around a windpipe. They might share his canine DNA but he knew who's side was who's.

No sooner had the last enemy fallen Rex froze. He had been backing up the animals, ready to fire the neutrotoxin darts, though it hadn't been neccescary. It reminded him of the thunder of the previous night... except it didn't seem to come form the sky this time.

"What's that sound?" He asked, puzzled.

"What sound?" Lucy replied, equally mystified.

"That _thudding_ sound."

"I don't hear anything."

Rex wasn't convinced. With Lucy's help he set up a soundbeam tower at the front of their base.

As the job was done he felt sure he heard the sound coming closer.

"Can't you hear it? Maybe it's just me." He frowned and told the chamber ot produce some more creatures.

A minute later, flanked by a horde of growling wolf-skunks copied from their design, a horrifying creature came stamping down the trail. The enourmous body of a killer whale was supported on sturdy polar bear legs. Rex couldn't believe his eyes. The soundbeam tower released a wave of sonic beams, making the smaller enemy creatures stumble. The killer bear reared up onto its hind legs and released a powerful sonic attack in return. Rex found his voice. "Attack that thing! Wolf, take it down!" He bellowed, and Wolf sprang straight over the stumbling coyote-skunks and ripped into the whale's nose, ending the sonic attack, dodging its massive paw as it swung clumsily. Oxine lined up and fired relentless quill attacks at the beast. Rex raised his dart gun and shot at the snappy little wolf-skunks, leaving one or two for the new Lobsox to tear through. Thankfully, as they set about the killer bear with their unforgiving claws Rex realized despite the incredible amount of health it must have, it had very little defense. The rubbery whale skin provided little protection against fang and claw, and it was simply too big and slow to get out of the way of the quills. Rex let his breath out in releif as the killer bear fell onto its side.

"Come on, let's see where it came from!" He called to his creatures. His ankle was far better now, but Wolf still bounded over to him and presented a willing shoulder. Bracing himself, Rex clamoured up onto his back, greatful his neck fur was so thick. "Let's go!"

There was a flat plateau just a short distance up the trail. Rex saw the enemy creatures clustered around a creature chamber and knew it was an outpost. He raised his dart gun and fired at the charging bear-ox, neutralizing it instantly. "Attack!" He yelled, and the Lobsox charged for the waiting soundbeam towers while the Oxine started fireing at the creatures. Rex kept up a steady line of cover-fire for his army. He was amazed at the Lobsox's work on the structures. Their claws simply tore through buildings like soft cheese. The soundbeam towers did some damage, but were pulled down before they killed anyone. Rex smiled as he watched the Lobsox recovering swiftly from the damage, heading to attack more buildings.

"Lucy, there's something new here." He called over the radio, waving at his animals not to attack it. "Want to come on up?"

"A research center!" Lucy exclaimed in wonder after she'd arrived. "What does Whitey research there?"

"Let's build it and see!" Suggested Rex sensibly, directly Wolf to help Lucy carry some of the heavier items out of the research clinic. Lucy was already sorting through some of it. "I'm sure we could attach this to the main body of the lab..." She murmured to herself. In any case it'll allow us to expand our defenses and develop even more sophisticated structures."

"Greeeat. More advanced research means I get to smash Julius in a more _'sopisticated' _manner. Let's get that set up."

"You're learning quickly." Lucy said in approval.

"Well, I've been taught some hard lessons." Rex replied grimly, looking away. Lucy rested her hand on his shoulder for a moment. Leaving him to finish up she set off back to base, patting Wolf gratefully as he helped her, carrying heavy equipment carefully in his powerful jaws.

A/N. Once again, the date on Rex's journal was the 15th, and when they actually landed was the 14th. I'm not sure if this is a deliberate thing on Relic's part to make you believe the battle has lasted two days, but it seems rather confusing as Rex had the dream in the starting sequence of his level, presumably before they landed on Glacialis. I will continue to see how this pans out in further levels and may change the dates later.


	9. Ship Wreck, Part 2

Rex had gone to the front of the plateau while his army finished off the shell of the research clinic. He realized his mistake when he saw a ram-wolf and a coyote-skunk dashing towards him. He fired upon the ram before it could rush attack him, but before he knew it the coyote-skunk had reached him. With a yell, Rex lashed out with a fist, narrowly avoiding the creature's teeth. It growled, then a second later Rex found himself in the center of a noxious orange cloud.

He gasped and frantically wiped his face on his sleeve. The stink cloud certainly did stink, but worse was the burning in his eyes. He couldn't see a thing. A moment later something smashed into his chest, knocking him to the ground and sending his rifle flying. Rex kicked and punched blindly, knowing the creature was about to kill him.

An earsplitting howl rang out and Rex saw a blur of grey and tan displace the cloud around him. Wolf's warcry brought the rest of his army running, but by the time they arrived Wolf was dropping the managed coyote-skunk who had dared try to and harm his master. The cloud dissipated gently.

Rex flung an arm around Wolf's neck, pulling himself onto his feet. He was shaken and bruised, but not badly hurt. He rested his forehead on Wolf's cheek. "Thanks, big fella." He told his faithful guardian. Wolf growled in contentment.

Rex left the creatures on guard and went back to make some reinforcements. Lucy was already creating a new section of the research clinic, attaching it to one side of the lab. Rex waited until another dozen creatures were ready before bringing them back up the join his original force. Assorted enemy creatures kept charging down two nearby trails, one in the direction of the glacier wall and the other from higher up to the west. Rex noticed that unlike himself, Whitey just seemed to make a few of every design that popped into his head. He saw wolf-skunks, a porcupine-bear, ram-wolves, the old polar-bear ox cross - instead of finding something that worked, Whitey threw everything he had in a show of strength, which was powerful enough in it's own right - but Rex's strong units and tactics were more than capable of holding them off.

Up the higher path they found two soundbeam towers that had been set up to guard a coal pile in the little hollow behind them. Wolf and Rex sat back, watching their flank, while the Lobsox and Oxine took care of them. Structures simply folded in the grip of powerful lobster claws.

Avoiding the main path for now, Rex and the creatures continued exploring the western side of the island. Rex called Lucy up to join them when he spied a floating structure in the lake ahead of them.

Before she got there the biggest collection of enemy creatures yet attacked. Rex swiftly ordered his army into formation, Lobsox at the front guarding the Oxine. He dismounted form Wolf's back to let him dodge with more ease. A soundbeam tower started to pepper his army while the large creature army stopped them reaching it. Rex spied the creature chamber beside it, furiously creating more creatures to stand up to the attacking masses.

"You three, bring down that tower!" He roared at the three Lobsox closest to it. "Oxine, fire on the enemy!" He raised his dart gun to shoot a bear-porcupine hybrid trying to block off his Lobsox. It fell, leaving a space for them to squeeze through. At once they set to work with their claws on the soundbeam tower, regenning the damaging even as it was being done to them.

Rex knew the battle had turned in their favour as the tower fell, but the chamber was still pumping out creatures at an alarming rate. "All of you, attack the chamber!" He commanded. "Leave the creatures to me!" Using his dart gun hew took down the last of he enemy creatures harassing his, and then trained his sight on the chamber, ready to bring down any newly created creature. He could reload faster than one of them could be built, he discovered.

Lucy arrived as the chamber crumpled to the ground. "Rex, are you all right?"

"Yeah, no problems. Take a look at this thing." He pointed to the chamber floating in the lake. It was close enough to the shoreline for Lucy to step carefully onto it.

"We can build one of these." She told him, deflating the floating boom that held it up to take with them.

"Great. Maybe we can send a surprise attack in by sea." Rex cast an eye over the Lobsox. Maybe he could modify their blueprint with lobster tails, so that they could swim. Once Lucy had what they needed, he let the Oxine lob quills over the short stretch of water to the floating chamber.

Whitey, stranding before the glacier wall to the east, was livid when he realized both his research and water creature outposts had been taken down. And there was that Willing girl, walking away with his boom draped over a sigma animal!

"You Bastiges!" He bellowed, beyond outraged. "You bleedin' worms! By Joh! You think that equipment grows on trees! You sea slugs! I've never seen such cheek like that!" He didn't realize the wall of glacier ice just in front of him had started to shake ominously. "You filthy scums! I'm so bleeding mad, ARGGGH, YOU'RE GONNA PAY FOR THIS!" The last threat was so loud it echoed off the surrounding rock faces. With a muted roar the ice gave way in a mini-avalanche, cracking the ice wall in several places. Slowly, it gave way and slid down into the snow, crackling into smaller and smaller pieces as it fell. Whitey stared at the former protective wall in dismay. "Geeze. That was dumb." He muttered, making haste back to his ship.

"Well, Whitey's a helpful fella." Observed Rex as he took the animals back to the main trail. "We should be able to take him out no problem now."

Wolf threw back his head and howled wildly in agreement, rousing the Oxine and Lobsox to a grunting, bellowing chorus around them.

"Back to base first." Ordered Rex. He wanted to try out his Lobstox idea. Lucy was crouched on the shoreline, braving the short waves of the freezing ocean behind their base in setting up a water chamber of their own.

Rex left the creatures to guard the front of the base and went to the creature chamber. Studying the lobster notes, he nodded. If he replaced the blueprint with the lobster's tail it would be able to swim. He brought up the Oxine's blueprint on the chamber's screen. Yes, it was a simple addition...

He saved the blueprint. A yelp from Wolf drew his attention. To his horror, he saw his half-dozen lobsox keel over and hit the ground heavily. "Hey!" He raced over, but it was too late.

"Lucy?"

Having just finished their water chamber, she emerged from the lab with two thick towels wrapped around her. The choppy waves on the shore had splashed her as she set up the boom around the water chamber. "What is it, Rex?"

"Look! The lobsox... I don't know what happened."

Lucy, however, knew right away. "You edited their blueprint?" She asked gently. Rex nodded, confused. Lucy sighed and shook her head. "It's my fault. I should have told you. You can't edit an existing blueprint without he chamber removing all existing matches to that blueprint. I'm sorry, Rex."

"No, it's not your fault. Look at you, you're shivering. Get inside the lab and warm up." Lucy needed no further urging and went back to the lab. Without warning Wolf tore past him, snarling, taking the Oxine with him. They dashed by the chamber and the lab to the ocean behind the base, where a second killer bear was using its sonic attack to try and take down Lucy's new water chamber. The Oxine started firing quills, and the beast swung towards them and lumbered onto the shore. Wolf was waiting. Ducking under the attacking paws and dodging to the side of the snapping whale mouth, he led it sideways. As soon as the broad whale side was presented to him, Rex raised his dart gun, loaded with its heaviest charge. The creature stumbled heavily as the dart hit home, and Wolf ripped into its side. More quills rained down, finishing it off once and for all.

"Good boy, Wolf!" praised Rex, running up to their only close-range attacker. Remembering this, he ordered a dozen of the newly altered Lobsox to be built, using both his chambers. The new Lobsox were slow but sturdy swimmers. Rex waited until he had seven and sent them around the back of the island by sea. He led the army of thirty or so back up the path, heading for the glacier wall.

Along the new path they went, climbing over the icy rubble in their way, demolishing the few enemy creatures that attempted to block them. They forced their way steadily north. Rex stood upon a small hill and looked silently at the well-trodden snow. Whitey was close, he could sense it.

He strode to the rocky edge of the hill. To his left a well-used trail led down to Whitey's base. He could see the smaller structures all grouped around a great whaling ship, the front half of which was embedded in the ice. There were numerous soundbeam towers and clusters of alert combined creatures standing everywhere. This battle would be tough.

Then Rex's sharp eyes saw the motion in the water beyond the stern of the ship. The raiding Lobsox he'd sent in for a surprise attack had also arrived. They started to attack the stern, staying quiet as they could, out of sight behind the ship's bulk.

"Ok, listen up." Rex called his army. "Lobsox go in first, target the soundbeam towers, and then any production buildings. Oxine stay with me, we provide cover-fire for the Lobsox and take care of any creatures trying to attack them. If they get close to us, leave them to Wolf and me. Keep it quiet, try to surprise them. Let's go!"

With the plan in motion, Rex and his creatures surged down the slope, silent but for the crunch of paws in the snow.

This time the Lobsox took casualties. There were simply too many enemy creatures, and too chambers pumping out fresh reinforcements, to avoid it. But Rex's plan worked. Building after building fell. The Oxine formed a double-rowed semicircle and hurled quills at their foes. Rex used his darts on anything that tried to get close to the Oxine, as they brought down anything attacking the Lobsox. Each flank covered by another, Rex's army crushed Whitey's, the dark-haired man reloading and firing with a grim determination.

The Lobsox that had crept in from the ocean achieved their purpose just as the land army were finishing off the last few structures. A hole had been torn in the stern, under the line of the water, allowing the freezing water to flood the lower decks. The steady increase of weight was causing the ice holding the bow in place to crack and splinter.

Whitey appeared at the bow rail, looking livid. "You, rotten cheating scoundrels! You've ruined my SHIP!" He ranted, smashing his fists on the rail for emphasis. A moment later he had to grab on as the entire bow raised into the air, the stern drawn inexorably into the water.

A rat jumped up on the rail beside Whitey, wiggled its nose at the whaler, then leaped for the safety of the shore.

The entire stern section was tearing away from the front of the ship, but it was too late. The weight of the blooded rear section had broken the ice. Still at the hull, the stern dragged the bow into an even sharper tilt. Rex watched, unflinching. Whitey made a grab at a pole, then scrambled to the harpoon mounted on the bowsprit. His huge hands clutched the weapon vainly, but this time he could not be saved. The ship continued to be dragged into the air until it was standing completely vertical. Then gravity took its course.

"Craaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaap!" It was the whaler's final word as his ship plunged through the broken ice into the frozen water, taking its captain with it.

Rex rested his hand on Wolf's neck. He noticed there was a bite wound on the hybrid's foreleg - the first time he's seen his faithful Wolf take a direct hit. They both turned their heads as the familiar drone of the lab's engines caught their attention -Lucy was arriving to pick them up.

"Well. I guess that's the end of Whitey Hooten."


	10. Trial by Fire, Part 1

**Impossible Creatures: **_**Chapter Five, Part One: **_**Trial by Fire**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Impossible Creatures or any of its characters. They belong to Microsoft and Relic entertainment. **

**Summary: Rex and Lucy leave the polar islands an encounter one Vilika La Piet **

"A great flame follows a little spark." - Dante Alighieri

**Isla Aduro **

**June 18th, 1937 **

A loudspeaker sparked with static. Upton Julius's voice followed the crackling.

"Upton Julius transmitting to Velika la Pette. We have lost all contact with Whitey Hooten. I know you must be overwhelmed with grief, given your affection for him, but if you could pull yourself together, I have a job for you. I need you to capture Chanikov's son. He will be coming from the south, and he has that upstart Dr Willing with him. Do _not_underestimate him, he has proven himself to be quite resourceful. He must be captured - he is the _key_ to _everything_.

* * *

Rex and Lucy had left the southern frozen islands behind. They had also left behind their henchman, who had known no other life but the frozen wastelands. He did put in a radio call to a few of his friends on the next major island, to spread the word that Rex and Lucy would need some help and that they could be trusted.

Rex stood out on the platform with Wolf, enjoying the wind blowing his thick hair back. Wolf has a on blissful expression Rex felt sure he recognized from the last dog he'd seen riding in an automobile, leaning its head out the window.

Together they gazed down at the lush savannah island sprawlling before them. The thick green grass and wide acacias seemed like a cast improvement to Rex. He breathed in the balmy air, then ducked inside the lab.

"So, is this Julius's island?"

"Oh no Rex, it's not that simple. This chain of islands is over a thousand miles long, way too far for the lab to travel in a single trip. We'll have to make lots of stops for repairs and supplies." Lucy had found a suitable camp spot and was bringing the lab in to land.

Much as Rex wanted to get to Julius right away, there was something appealing in spending a few weeks with Lucy, flying around in the lab. If there weren't people trying to murder them all the time it might almost have been peaceful. Relaxing. Romantic, even?

They stepped out together and jumped into the sun-warned ground. A pass stretched out before them to the east, running a rocky wall up beside the base. There was flat land to the south and the shore at their west. They were greeted by a pair pf henchman who had been waiting their arrival, and started to collect coal for them.

"Ok, where do we-" Rex stopped midsetnace and turned his head, scanning the area and listening intently. Wolf, investigating the shoreline at their backs, stalked over to them with a warning bark.

"Hold on, I think we're about to have some company." Rex looked ahead to the long, narrow mountain pass east of their base. A moment later curious, buzzing machine zipped down it and shot overhead. Wolf drew back his lips and snarled, glaring up at the contraption. The flying machine stopped in a hover just over the lab.

"Velika la Pette!" Exclaimed Lucy, her expression turning instantly stormy.

The woman sitting in the machine's single seat tsked down at them. She had a long, severe face and was dressed in some kind of fur. Rex was sure the fur had more than one type of pattern on it...

"Oh Lucy, you naughty girl! Bringing a handsome guest to dinner unannounced. Never mind, we will have you both for dinner anyways!" Called the woman, speaking in a heavy, affected French accent.

"Why don't you come down here and I'll cook your goose!" Lucy threatened, looking as worked-up as Rex had ever seen her. Her placed a calming hand on her shoulder. Wolf, as if sensing Lucy's agitation, raised his hackles and kept a continuous growl that rivaled the propeller on the flying machine.

"Tsk Tsk Lucy! Oh, but where are my manners - I should go _light_ the way for you!"

Wolf uttered a final snarl, then sprang into action. Taking a short run-up, he leaped onto the roof of the lab, gathered his lithe body, and sprang up at the flying machine. But he had left it just a few moments to late. Velika pulled a lever and her machine banked upwards, out of the reach of the Sigma hybrid's snapping teeth. With a manaical laugh that set Rex's nerves on edge, she sped off back down the pass.

"We should get the rest of the base set up." Lucy told him, obviously still fired up over the encounter. Rex decided not to argue.

After he had the creature chamber set up, he met Lucy beside the lab. She was damp, having just set up their water chamber. "Lucy, are you cooking something? I swear I smell barbecue." He said, scratching his head. Lucy, somewhat calmer than before, folded her arms. Rex hadn'tfound time to bathe since his encounter with the skunk-coyote back on Isla Glacailis, and she could tell.

"I didn't want to say anything before, Rex, but all I smell is _you_." She replied dryly.

Wolf barked urgently for their attention. Then he bounded towards them, pushed them both carefully up against the lab, and shielded them with his lean body, his stance wary, all four paws braced on the ground.

"Wolf, what are you..." Rex broke off in a coughing fit as a stampede of giraffe and zebra raced past them, heading for the shoreline, kicking up a huge dust cloud in their wake. "Oh, right. Good boy." Wolf moved aside, letting them go. A villiager darted up in the wake of the animals, and with a growing feeling of dread Rex realized it wasn't the stampede that had thrown dust into the air - there was smoke coming from the pass.

"FIRE! FIRE! Our village will be destroyed!" wailed the villager, running up to them.

"Fire!" Exclaimed Rex, waving some of the smoke away from his face. He saw the flames blazing their way up the pass towards them. "Looks like Velika was-" He broke off to cough. "-serious about having us for dinner!"

Lucy saw how fast it was moving too. "Rex, the fire's going to get here in a matter of minutes! We don't have time to power the lab back up, you'll just have to find a way to put it out!"

"Okay." Rex remained calm, he was all business as a plan formed in his head. "I'll go to the village, see if I can't round us up a bucket brigade."

Whistling Wolf, he jumped onto his back and they took off over the flat area, in the direction the village pointed out.

The pass arced all the way around and the flames had followed it, now licking up the hillside where an assortment of wooden huts were gathered.

"FIRE! FIRE! Our village will be destroyed!" To Rex this panicked villager looked exactly the same as the one who had warned them at their base. He kept a level head, jumping down off Wolf's back since some of the villagers were casting nervous looks his way.

"Look, our lab is in trouble too. Maybe we can help each other."

"Hey, you're the funny-looking guy who helped save my cousin's igloo. You can create those crazy creatures!" Exclaimed one of the villages. Wolf's ears flattened, as if indignant at being referred to as 'crazy'. For his part, Rex wasn't wild about the 'funny-looking' tag, but now wasn't the time.

"Here, take these fish!" said the villager enthusiastically, thrusting a tightly-woven basket into his hands. "Uh, ok." The basket sloshed. Rex looked at it apprehensively and peeled back the lid. He nearly dropped it when a small fin protruded from the water inside.

"They're archerfish!" proclaimed the villager proudly. "They spit water!"

"Spit water, you say. So what? I can do that." shrugged Rex. Wolf growled impatiently and nudged him sharply, nearly sending the basket flying. He presented a side to Rex pointedly. Mystified and still clutching his basket of fish, Rex climbed onto his back. "Ok, I'm coming. Just don't go too fast or this basket will spill all over- woah!" Wolf set off at a ground-eating gallop, spilling half of the water in the basket onto Rex's shirt.

"Honey, I'm home!" Rex called once Wolf put on the brakes outside the lab.

"What??" Rex handed her the basket. "Oh, archerfish! They spit water, you know. We can combine that with something big to help us put out the fire."

"Of course!" Rex collected a sample. Seeing a huddle of frightened giraffe cowering at the water's edge, he quickly raised his rifle. They would be perfect!

At the new creature chamber he loaded the samples. The smoke was getting thicker in the air and he was sure he could hear crackling now. Rushing, he threw the archerfish head on the giraffe body. He paid little attention to its stats, apart from the one he needed - a water artillery attack, able to be projected over a mighty twenty-eight meters. He queued as many of them up as he could. Wolf whined and paced restlessly in front of the creature chamber.

"Wish us luck!" He called to Lucy when he had a trio ready. She looked up from the coal pile. "Be careful, Rex."

"Keep the next three. Tell them to put out the fire in the pass. Send the rest to help me!" Called Rex, Wolf already carrying him back the the village. The new Girchers were nearly as fast on their long giraffe legs as Wolf was. Rex tried to aviod looking at the giant fishy heads. He wouldn't hold their looks against them if they saved them, and the village. As they approached, Rex saw to his dismay roaring flames had found the huts.

"The village is on fire!" He called into his radio.

"I'm sending you re-enforcements, you have to save them!" There was urgency in Lucy's voice. Rex nodded, though obviously she couldn't see him. "One good turn deserves another. Come on you lot, let's get these fires out!"

Rearing back on their stilt-like legs, all three Girchers spat huge mouthfuls of water at the village. They splashed everywhere on impact, drenching the huts and causing the fire to hiss violently as it wrestled with the damp wood."Keep going! Get that hut!" Rex pointed to one on the edge of the village that was nearly destroyed. A barrage of water extinguished the flames around it. Thundering hooves told Rex backup had arrived. He was relieved to see six more Girchers - Lucy had built them quickly! He divided them into teams of two and had them target specific areas of the village. Wolf darted to and fro, barring the worried villages from getting too close to their homes.

For five minutes they fought until the smoke had stained them all a charcoal shade. Rex knew the fire was loosing ground. The Girchers had done the trick. The flames could not advance on the soaked vegetation, and bit by bit it was being put out.

"Our village has been saved!" Cheered the villager, and he produced a second basket, this one smaller, to give to Rex. "Here, take this gift as our thanks!"

"Sure." Rex knew better than to open it. "So long, and thanks for all the fish."

He tucked the basket under his arm and jumped into Wolf's back - making sure he had a tight hold of this one, though he didn't think there was any water in it. Actually, it seemed to be _buzzing_.

"Oh Rex, you're my hero." Lucy said dryly as he gave her the second basket back at the base. Rex coughed and moved hastily towards the chamber. Lucy had sent him all of the Girchersand left none for her to defend the base with- the fire was creeping right at their doorsteps. "Yeah, well, we still have a little fire problem of our own to deal with here." He set the existing Girchers on the nearest flames.

"Do you think you could set up a couple of Soundbeam towers? I have this suspicion Velika isn't going to leave us alone when she finds her fires are out." Rex kept an eye on the Girchers, encouraging them to move up as the nearest flames died.

"I have a suspicion you're right. Come help me with the tripod. Oh, and there's a hornet in here. Good luck collecting a sample. Careful, they sting." Lucy set the basket by the lab. Rex eyed the basket and decided to leave that pleasant task for later on. He ordered a few more Girchers and then a pair of Oxine. He was expecting resistance very soon.

As the Girchers advanced further, the ground charred and blackened under their hooves, a path leading up into the hills was revealed. Wolf, waiting behind the tall hybirds, howled his warcry and went racing up the path, the Oxine lumbering to join him. Rex hastily followed, grabbing his dart gun.

A trio of zebra-archerfish, short and squat with fish bodies and zebra legs, were spitting their own attack at Rex's team. Wolf tackled the first one. Rex directed the Oxine onto the second, raised his dart gun to the third, and ordered the Girchers to keep fighting the fire. They couldn't let it advance again!

"Lucy, we're going to need some tougher backup. I want two Lobsox and more Oxine up here, Velika's creatures have found us!"

With three combined creatures at his side he held the pathway while the Girchers fought the fire in the pass. More enemy creatures tried to force their way down. Rex had to duck away from the water artillery to fire back. It didn't sound threatening, but the sheer volume of water being fired through their air at high speeds was quite destructive. Rex quickly got soaked, be he was avoiding direct hits. His creatures, however, were suffering. Ranged attacks did work well, Rex thought grimly. As well against them as they did for them.

At last the gurgling voices of the Girchers sounded in a chorus. The fire was out. Rex breathed a sigh of releif and called his army back to base.

* * *

As he returned, on a small hilltop overlooking the pass, a henchman poked his head out from behind a giant, carved stone."Uh-oh, Fire's out. Better warn the boss-lady." He removed a rifle from his back holster and fired it into the air.

On the opposite side of the island, Vekia frowned. "There's the signal. Monsieur Chance and his little girly were somehow able to overcome the fire trap I set for them. I guess I'll have to do this the old-fashioned way. YOU TWO!"

Two henchman ran over to her.

"Prepair your creatures! Elimate Rex Chance!" She declared with a flourish. The first henchman frowned. "Uh, I think Mr. Julius said to capture him, Ma'am."

Velika stared flatly at the pair. "I was just trying to be dramatic, your morons."

"Oh, uh... of course." The second said rapidly, exchanging a confused glance with the first as Velika turned her back.

* * *

"Did you hear that shot?" Rex was helping Lucy set up a second soundbeam tower, holding a pole up. "Probably warning that La Pette woman. Who is she? What can we expect?"

Lucy leaned the second pole against him as she grappled with the loudspeaker, trying to secure it properly. Rex staggered a little, wrapping his arm around it and bracing it with his shoulder.

"She's one of Julius's pet research scientists. She has a love of exotic furs and an extensive knowledge of Ornithology."

"A bird expert, eh?" Rex knew she'd been testing him to see if he knew the word, and couldn't resist a little grin. Lucy smiled sweetly back and leaned the last pole on him, nearly knocking him over under the weight of holding all three up. She used a small shovel to dig two holes to secure the pole ends in. Wolf, seeing what she was doing, used one paw to scoop out the third one. She patted him on the way to retrieve one of the poles from Rex.

"Exactly. She's a cunning woman, and likely to set more traps for us if she gets the chance."

Towers now built and creatures being produced, Rex stood back for a moment and inhaled the fresh air. This was the life - he far preferred the savannah to the tundra.

"Mm, that water looks so inviting - who's up for a dip?" Wolf charged past and flung himself into the water. Rex pulled off his boots, rifle, radio and his shirt and overcoat. Splashing in after Wolf, he laughed as the hybrid paddled strongly about in deeper water, apparently taking well to the water.

Lucy stood on the shoreline and watched Rex standing waist-deep, laughing and splashing Wolf. It took her a moment to realize she was staring at Rex's bare, muscular back and well-defined shoulders before she snapped out of it. "I'd love to, but we're not on vacation here. Much as I really don't want to object to your bathing habits becoming more frequent."

"Of course not." Rex turned to face her, giving her a nice view of his chest Lucy really didn't find unappealing. "But we could always swim to other parts of the island. At least the water's not cold anymore!" He used his palm to sweep a mini-wave of water at Lucy, elitcting a shriek from her which was followed by a cold glare. Frostily she stalked off back to the lab.

Rex laughed and dived back into the water, striking out after Wolf, who seemed surprisingly boyant for a creature his size. "That woman has no sense of humour, big guy."

When he came out of the water he noticed a neatly folded towel beside his haphazardpile of clothes, and smiled. Of course the moment he wrapped the towel around his shoulders Wolf bounded out of the water and shook his thick fur all over Rex. "Hey, hey, Wolf!" Yelled Rex in protest. Wolf opened his mouth in a canine grin and trotted off into the base. Rex shook his head and picked up his now-damp belongings, heading for the lab for a change of clothing.

Lucy met him as he stepped outside. The towel had told him he'd already been forgiven. "I set up that genetic amplifier and started looking into the research with it. It's frequency boots the abilities of our creatures - we can choose to make them stronger, faster, you name it."

"That sounds great. Let's do that." He rubbed his hand through his wet hair, which was even more unruly than usual.

"The downside is the research does take a lot of power, and that takes coal." She warned, and he nodded. "No problem. We boost only the most important areas. Show me how this thing works."

Lucy demonstrated how to select a particular creature, then the specific ability that could be heightened. Rex choose to strengthen the Oxine's quill attack and defense and the Lobsox's health, defense and attack.

"Do you think we're ready?" Lucy asked him. Rex turned his head to check on his two dozen Oxine and dozen Lobsox. Wolf trotted over to join them, crouching his front end down a bit for Rex to climb on. He did so and nodded purposefully to Lucy. "We're ready. If I find any new technology, I'll radio for you - but don't come alone. Bring some creatures with you."

"I will." She locked her gaze on his serious dark brown eyes and for a long moment, neither moved or spoke. Then Wolf shifted his forepaws, impatient to be off into battle once again, and the spell was broken.

"Keep an eye on the skies!" Warned Rex, and he and Wolf led the way down the charred pass, thirty-six Sigma Creatures following in their wake.


	11. Trial by Fire, Part 2

The pass the army of combined creatures went down ended by a small straight of water. Rex shaded his eyes and jumped off Wolf's back, staring intently into the water. "Do you see that, Wolf?" He asked the tall hybrid. Wolf lowered his muzzle almost to the water, uttered a little yip, then sprang. He landed around knee-deep in the water. Rex smiled - he had suspected there was a sand bar connecting the two islands. For a moment, he wondered if it were high or low tide. Depending, the sand bar might rise out of the water of drop low enough to be of no use to them. He frowned, looking at Wolf. The wolf-cougar flattened his ears, then splashed his way across the bar to the second island. Rex nodded. "You're right. We've got to cross. Come on, you lot." He removed his boots and splashed across himself. Even if the tide went out, at least his Lobsox and Wolf could swim.

On the western shore was an outpost - about what Rex had learned to expect. A workshop, some towers - though on closer inspection there was some sort of rotating screen on top, not the loudspeaker of a soundbeam tower - and this one had a genetic amplifier. But more interesting was the rows of spikes grown in front of the entrance.

"Interesting." Rex said over the radio. "They're using bramble fences, a tough- and fast- growing plant species. In Africa, they've used bramble fences for thousands of years. Keeps the lions at bay. Listen, there's some sort of new tower here - want to come check it out?"

"On my way." She clicked the radio off.

"None of you bring down those towers yet." Rex called. This shouldn't be a problem as neither tower appeared to be firing anything at his creatures.

As the workshop fell Rex felt sure he heard sounds behind them. Turning, he saw a small army heading towards them. Led by a huge bulky figure on striped hindlegs, Rex wasn't sure what he was seeing until it got closer. It was a zebra-gorilla, flanked by rangy cheetah bodies with oversized reptile heads. Rex stared, caught between horror and fascination - right up until the point one of the felines stopped and fired a long reptilian tongue at him.

"Yaah!" Rex hit the ground. His own army surged up, the Lobsox charging and the Oxine firing waves of quills, tripping the muscular figure of the gorilla-zebra. Wolf paused beside Rex, who used the hybrid's shaggy chest fur to help pull himself up. With a grateful pat, he keep an eye on the battle, turning towards the shoreline where Lucy was jogging up flanked by two more Oxine. Rex had these join the fight, which as usual they were winning, though one of his Lobsox had been surrounded and killed. Rex directed Lucy to the crumbling outpost to inspect the two towers. He frowned as the last enemy cheetah-lizard fell. Some nagging sixth sense told him there were more enemy creatures nearby, but he couldn't see anything else approaching...

Wolf uttered a loud snarl, crouched down, and sprang into the air. A stone clattered off the rocks beside Rex and he ducked to the side, avoiding two more high-speed stone missiles. Wolf made a second wild leap, and a raucous cry like that of an agitated monkey made Rex realize what was happening.

"This appears to be a really powerful anti-air tower that discharges an electrical charge into the air." Lucy called from the base. Rex raised his rifle in readiness. "Great - we could sure use it." Into his sights swooped a winged chimpanzee, clutching a rock in its front paws, eagle wings working furiously to keep it in the air. Rex fired and it plunged earthward, but there were more arriving in its wake.

"Lobsox, fall back!" He roared. "Oxine, form a semi-circle! Fire at those things!"

The quills flew. Rex was astounded by their accuracy - nearly every quill thrown hit home. A chimp-eagle with three quills embedded in its wing like arrows hit the ground a few feet away. With one remorseless growl Wolf pounced and gripped the creature around its neck, but Rex saw no blood as the feline-canine cross held onto the creature's windpipe. Wolf slowly started to drag the body away from the main group. Rex was confused.

"Wolf?"

Wolf quietly dropped his hold. Rex could see the winged beast's chest moving shallowly, but he seemed to have fallen unconscious, its head lolling loosely. Wolf stood over it, gazing steadily at Rex with his sightless white he understood. His stomach gave a small unpleasant jolt, but Rex had experienced the wild before. He'd seen lions eating zebras not quite dead yet, cheetahs running down their impala prey. This was the way of the wild - and Wolf was simply following the instincts that Rex himself had given him.

Rex nodded permission to Wolf, who dragged the chimp-eagle a little further off, than settled down to feed.

Knowing he could take care of himself, Rex called the rest of the army to him and followed the natural slope of the island northwards. He has discovered the Lobsox's claws allowed them to attack bramble fencing without taking damage, and of course his Oxine could simply fire over the top, so as they came upon a second bramble fence he quickly arranged his troops. Several puny-looking baboon-giraffes charged them but their ape-paws did little against unforgiving lobster armour.

There was a creature chamber just beyond the fence. Rex let the Lobsox rip down a soundbeam tower while Oxine brought down some more winged enemy creatures that appeared overhead. Rex stayed to the rear of the army with Lucy. He knew that there must be a special chamber producing flying chambers and he needed Lucy to steal any technology for it, but the instant she had he wanted her back at the base, out of harm's way.

Sure enough Rex was proved right. On a nearby hill was a strange, altered chamber clearly designed to create aerial creatures. It was positioned perfectly, so that a new creature could catch the wind and soar down the hill to the battlefield, Rex noticed. Checking the wind direction, he kept his rifle ready as Lucy ventured closer. Rex wished Wolf were present to send with her. His nerves were shot having Lucy on the battlefield. He was surprised to find he couldn't imagine being without her. His thoughts distracted him so much he didn't react right away as the air chamber hissed and discharged a flying chimpanzee into the air. Hastily he snapped back into the present and tracked the creature with his rifle, firing at it before it started throwing rocks at Lucy.

He sent the Oxine up to guard the foot of the hill as she collected the technology they needed. He was just in time, as a flock of bat-winged piranhas flew from the north. Without a ranged attack they had to swoop in close to snap at Rex's creatures. The Oxine fired steadily, and the Lobsox used their claws to snatch at the swift flying fish as they neared, teeth bared.

"If we want to build air creatures we can use the design of his chamber." Lucy emerged from the structure with a load of files under her arm. Rex nodded.

"Great. Head back to check on the base, and get the henchman to put up a few of those air towers. I don't want Velika trying to attack the lab while my attention is elsewhere."

"Good idea. Take care."

"You too. Take some Oxine - you and you, go with Lucy, please." The spiked beasts grunted affirmatively and went with Lucy back to the sand bar.

"Rest of you, we've still got a job to do. Let's fine this base!" Rex ordered, and they surged further northward. Rex got a bad feeling when he saw they had to travel up another pass to get to the base he knew would be on the highest hill. His suspicion was confirmed when a soundbeam tower on either side started firing upon his animals. They were on top of the surrounding hills, blocked off by rocky ridges. Velika had set another trap for them. There was no way his creatures could get to the towers - the Lobsox that usually tore through the towers were powerless. Rex acted quickly.

"Lobsox, straight through and attack whatever you find at the end! Oxine, two teams, fire on those towers! You three with us!" Rex lowered his head, squared his shoulders and charged down the pass. He knew there was no escaping casualties this time. His Lobsox would regen their damage as they ran the gauntlet, but the lower-defense Oxine would suffer as they stood throwing their quills at the towers.

Rex went with the Lobsox and found two chambers, a land and an air, guarded by a whole host of different creatures. He and the three Oxine he'd brought with him concentrated on the flock (school?) of bat-piranhas while the Lobsox started dismantling the structures and ground defenses. It was a difficult battle. Rex grabbed for his radio.

"Lucy, are you back at base?"

"Yes, I just arrived."

"I need backup here, whatever you've got and whatever you can build - and make it fast!"

They fought on bitterly. The two chambers at the end of the pass weren't the only ones producing creatures. More kept leaping downhill from the main base Rex knew was just around the corner. His forces held ground but lost numbers until Lucy's reinforcements arrived, just as his half-army were bringing down the generator and the lightning rods beyond.

The new creatures, having had a benefit of the pass after it had been cleared of soundbeam towers, were fit and ready to go. Knowing he couldn't let Velika take the time to build up more base defenses, Rex charged in recklessly.

Another small army raced up to meet them. Rex nearly tripped over his own feet when he saw a new beast amidst the gorilla-zebras and cheetah-lizards. He could see a spotted hyena body, but the balloon-sized insect eyes were those of a dragonfly. A _large_ one. There was a reason insects had been made small, he thought to himself.

Regaining his senses, he took the first one down with a tranquilizer dart. He set the Lobsox on the many soundbeam towers while he and the Oxine handled the enemy creatures. They had definitely left the influence of the snowy islands behind - Velika's creatures were more tropical and savannah roaming varieties.

He was forced to split up his army. Towers peppered them from a lower beach, yet another higher hilltop, and their own hill. Rex wiped sweat form his forehead and hastily reloaded his gun. There were more aerial creatures slinging rocks and darting overhead with piranhas teeth. One of the latter had made it close enough to Rex to snap at him, and there was a bleeding gash along his cheek. The first creature not to fall right away when he tranked it was a truly enormous hippopotamus-zebra. The huge body looked crazy on the slender zebra legs. Rex didn't know how it could walk, and it certainly was slow - but powerful. Rex knew hippo jaws were something to respect on a regular hippo, let alone a Sigma hippo. The dart had hit home - Rex saw it embed itself in the huge right foreleg - but it just didn't fall. A Lobsox and a few Oxine soon took care of the problem.

Then came a familiar growl and nudge at his arm that nearly bowled him over. Wolf paused only to greet his master, then charged off into the fray.

His appearance signalled the turn of the tide. They were forcing their way up into the topmost part of the hillside, tearing down structures as they went. Rex saw the lab come into view. It was large, immobile... clearly a permanent structure, unlike their own flying one.

"Bring it down!" Rex ordered, and tightening his grip on his rifle for the final assault.

He got a nasty surprise when the lab was around half-destroyed. Six zebra-archerfish crosses attacked the flank of his forces, killing three Oxine that had been firing on the base from further down the hill. It left just two in that area, both badly injured form the splash of the artillery attack, and Rex called them further up, so the natural slope would help offer them some protection. It was easier to fire down on enemies than it was to fire up at them, he had learned. Clearly he must have missed a water chamber hiding somewhere. He resolved not to make the same mistake again.

He stepped back when the lab fell, wincing. The sound of twisting metal felt like it was echoing inside his head, it was so loud. Wolf didn't help matters when he threw back his head and howled their victory to the stars. As usual, the entire army joined in, their voices much harsher than the powerful wolfsong.

"Good job!" He called over the racket. "Come on, Wolf. Let's go home."

As the cougar's limbs sped swiftly over the landscape, Rex didn't even realize that for the first time, he had referred to Lucy's lab as home. In his heart, it was what it had become.

Lucy met them outside the lab. "You were right to tell us to build that." She indicated a new anti-air tower standing beside the creature chamber. "We were attacked by a nasty little collection of piranhas on wings."

"Encountered some of those myself. Everyone okay?"

"Unharmed. Wait til you see these towers in action... Rex, what happened to your cheek?" She was staring at the gash on the side of his face. It had stopped bleeding and Rex had all but forgotten it.

"Oh. That was the flying piranha encounter. Let it get a little too close." He explained. Lucy disappeared into the lab and returned with still-hot boiled water and iodine disinfectant. "Sit down there and hold still." She instructed, pointing to the lab platform. Rex waved a hand. "Oh, it's ok, I don't need-"

"_Sit down_." Her tone was forceful enough that not only Rex but Wolf too, quickly sat.

Lucy carefully bathed Rex's wound, ignoring his twitches and muttered 'ows' of protest. It was quite a nasty wound - once the blood had been washed away, Lucy could actually make out the teeth marks - but luckily it wasn't deep. She tipped a little of the iodine onto a gauze pad.

"Now, this is probably going to sting a little..." She was close enough to see the apprehension in his brown eyes. She almost laughed - big, tough Rex, who charged fearlessly into battle with genetically altered animals, afraid of a little disinfectant.

Though for his part, Rex certainly wasn't protesting anymore. There was something to be said at having a beautiful woman tend to him after a-

"ARGH!" Rex shot sideways as she dabbed at his face with the iodine. She stared after him, exasperated, as he glared up at her, lying on his back after having rolled twice to take him out of her reach. "A _little_?" He demanded, indignantly. Lucy rolled her eyes. "Oh, don't be so dramatic."

Wolf's warning growl signalled the approaching of a noisy flying object. Rex hastily got to his feet, glad to have an excuse for Lucy not to stick any more of that stuff on his face. Velika, keeping her flying machine out of range of the anti-air tower, called down to them.

"Well my dears, it had been a lovely soiree but I must fly away!" She did just that, her noisy, buzzing aircraft sailing off over the ocean.

"The wicked witch gets away again." Lucy scowled darkly.

Rex had, as usual, been thinking straitcally. "Sure would be handy to have one of those little flying machines for ourselves. If we follow her, we might be able to, uh, _'accuire' _it." He grinned suggestively at Lucy. She smiled back, waving Wolf on board the lab.

"Excellent idea, Rex!"

**A/N**

**These diary/landing dates are hopeless. From here on out I'm going to simply adjust the diary to the releivant date. **

**Also, anyone still reading this who wants to see completely kickass fanart, featuring the wonderful Wolf, could check out this fantastic piece by C.T. Elder!**

****

**.com/art/Leader-of-the-Pack-119917932**

...Clearly I'm unsure of linking. if you copy that bit and put c-t-elder, a dot, deviantart and connect them, you'll see it :P


	12. Flying Machines, Part 1

**Flying Machines**

**"There is no flying without wings" - French proverb **

From the research diary of Lucy Willing,

June 17th, 1937

_Dr Chanikov's death has finally sunk in. I can't believe he's gone. He was like a father to me. It seems like ages since all this started, and that makes sense. Coming to these islands felt like the beginning of a new life. Since then, the Sigma project has become everything to me. Dr. Chanikov even indicated I would be the one to continue his work after he passed. I hoped that day would never come. He was a kind and brilliant man._

_Rex never knew him, and doesn't know what he missed. It seems to have taken a heavy toll on him. He's a guarded man, who's had a hard life... yet, I see a lot of his father in him._

Lucy sat quietly on the deck of the lab, writing in her journal. It was the sunset after the previous battle and they were still on Isla Aduro, having made the decision to give themselves a few days rest. There were only a few islands near enough for Velika to have fled too, and Lucy was confident she would be able to track her down.

Wolf was sprawled, snoring lightly, a short distance from the lab. Lucy had to smile at the sight of the oversized wolf head resting on a curled-up cougar paw. She had become very fond of him, despite her initial worries about having a combined creature live and travel in the lab with them. He was endearing, and intelligent. It was fascinating, seeing an individual Sigma creature so close for such a length of time. In all her research, she'd never gotten to know any creature they way they had Wolf.

She turned her head to see Rex standing barefoot on the beach, gazing silently out over the ocean. He crouched down and let a handful of sand run through his fingers. Her heart really did go out to him. He had traveled so far to meet his father... and instead been plunged into the midst of all _this_.

Sighing, she closed her journal and left it inside the lab. They had grown a little sick of tinned supplies, so earlier Rex had tracked a few rabbits and some partridges for a change of diet. He had left them skinned and ready to cook, so she decided to get a campfire going and make a start on the meal. The beginnings of an idea formed in her mind as she made a spit for the meat. She smiled quietly.

* * *

"I thought he was you at first." Lucy explained as she and Rex sat down to eat. Wolf had been permitted a cooked rabbit to himself and was lying a short distance away, delicately pulling off little mouthfuls of meat, avoiding the bones. "Ganglion - I'll explain more about him another time, believe me, he takes some explaining - was about to put him through the combiner. I had a creature with me that I'd been trialing, I knew Ganglion would be too curious not to investigate it. It was something I called a Frupine."

Rex caught on quickly. "Frog-procupine?"

"Yes. It was very small - I'd been studying it because the usual sizing modifiers somehow hadn't worked on this creature. You could carry it in your hand easily. But it still had pretty sharp quills, as Ganglion found out. I managed to get the reporter outside, but we pulled up quickly when Ganglion send his cobra-chameleons after us. It looked even worse when we almost ran into a small force of Komodobears. I thought for sure we were doomed."

"What happened?"

"Turns out your father had created the Komodobears. It was the very start of his resistance... and, unfortunately, what eventually got him killed. But his Komodobears protected us. Killed all of the cobras, and protected us."

Rex was silent as he digested this information. At length he said "So he must have suspected something. My father."

"Yes. Neither of us were happy with what had been going on recently. Your father must have be planning something. He just never got the chance to carry out those plans."

Rex looked away, sighed, then turned back to Lucy. "How did you get the reporter to safety?"

"He had a boat. Ganglion sent hyena bats to track us, but we made it to the boat in time. I told him to try and spread the word. I didn't think that we could win on our own."

Rex smiled at her. "Now you don't have to."

They spent a little longer on the island, relaxing in the warmth after the frozen wasteland of the southern islands. Rex and Wolf played in the water like a pair of dolphins. Lucy got a few repairs on the lab done, but at Rex's insistence spent time in the water with them, as well. Lucy was surprised by Rex. Without the constant threat of battle he was a changed man, laughing, relaxing, throwing large sticks for Wolf (Who had a habit of cracking them into tiny fragments in his great jaws instead of bringing them back, Lucy was certain it was purposeful), and in general being more at ease than she's ever seen him.

He surprised her the morning they left with a single, new combined creature. She recognized the little tree frog legs and the solemn looking rodent face, the row of tiny sharp quills growing along its back. He'd made her a Frupine.

* * *

**Isla Eruptio**

**June 19th, 1937 **

The lab came to settle on a bed of rich black soil, the outcrop of a little spur of land projecting out into the bay. Water surrounded them on all sides except to the south, where an upward sloping path led to the volcano that dominated the new island.

"Any particular reason you wanted me to land at the foot of a _volcano_, Rex?" Lucy enquired pointedly as Wolf started circling their new base.

"Velika won't look for us here." Rex pointed out. Lucy folded her arms. The little Frupine he'd made her had gotten into the habit of riding around on her shoulder, and it clung with his sticky frog hind feet.

"Because we'd have to be **crazy** to set down in the path of **molten lava**!" She exclaimed with more than a hint of sarcasm. Rex flashed his most charming grin.

"Exactly!"

"_Rex Chance_, you will be the death of me. If any of my equipment gets damaged--"

Rex holstered his rifle. "Nothing's going to get damaged, so just you relax. See that, in the distance?" He pointed to a higher point of the volcano, where a flying machine buzzed rapidly away to the east side of the island. "More of those flying machines Velika was using. She must manufacture them here. We should be able to procure one from her. I'm going to go exploring. Coming, Wolf?"

His guardian was growling in low tones at a wary black leopard he had backed up on the edge of the island. The leopard faced up to him bravely, but did not lack the common sense. Wolf was well over twice his size and the leopard kept his distance, ready to defend himself but not to attack.

Rex tranquilized the feline and patted Wolf. "Thanks fella." He collected the sample. As he did so, Wolf rounded up a hyena that he herded in Rex's direction. Rex took a second sample. There was a cobra not far from the base, which he relocated after taking a sample from, while it was still out cold. He didn't want venomous, splitting snakes anywhere near Lucy.

With the base being constructed, towers being put up and research underway, Rex ordered some Oxine and started cautiously advancing. Wolf's low growling wasn't needed for Rex to know this place was dangerous. They had barely moved up the path before a group of animals set upon them. Rocks thrown by a chimp/zebra struck the ground beside them, and from a nearby hill armadillo/archerfish and giraffe/chameleon opened fire with tongue and water attacks. Wolf tensed to spring forwards but Rex shouted a warning.

"No Wolf! All of them have ranged attacks, back to base!" He fired at the chimp/zebra, which was nearest, and Wolf reluctantly followed his retreat.

By the time the enemy followed them down to the base, Rex, Wolf and four Oxine waited beside a soundbeam tower. The ranged attack enemies all aimed at different targets - two at the tower, another at an Oxine, another at Rex. As he dodged aside Rex ordered his little army to take them down one at a time, concentrating their fire on one beast until it fell.

Wolf took off, keeping low to the rock wall on the oceanside. An armadillo archer fish fired at him, but Wolf was swift enough that he wasn't in the same place by the time the jet of water reached him. He flung himself on the nearest creature, one of the chameleon-giraffe. It might have had a good, far-reaching ranged attack, but it didn't have much defense. Wolf's powerful jaws ripped into the other creature without remorse. Rex, knowing his army was presently small, kept reloading and firing as fats as he could. After only two chameleon/giraffes remained, they turned tail and fled. Rex was astounded. They had disappeared altogether. Wolf snarled after them, clearly a 'And don't come back' warning.

"Lucy?" She was doing some research in the lab, and stuck her head out at his call. "Hmm?"

"What do you know about chameleons? Because I swear I just saw one go invisible over there."

"It's not invisibility per-say, but the chameleon has a very advanced stealthy ability. They can blend perfectly with their surroundings, rendering them all but impossible to see by the human eye." Lucy explained. "It's an ability I helped your father work on."

"I see. We'll have to keep a sharp eye out." Rex glanced down at Wolf at his side. "I bet Wolf could still sniff them out." Wolf growled his support of the idea.

Rex waited a little while before venturing up the path a second time. He darted and sampled a chimpanzee that dashed away at the face of his creatures. Just as he finished a mob of enemies fell upon them. As the Lobsox charged forward to take them on soundbeam towers all around upon the surrounding hilltops fired down at them. Gritting his teeth, Rex shouldered his rifle. "Keep going, take them down! Oxine, fire on those towers, now!"

It was another difficult battle. Rex was looking forward to pressing on and collecting some more useful blueprints. He was interested in the last two animals Lucy's notes said inhabited the island - gorillas and crocodiles. He was apprehensive about collecting a sample from the latter, though.

His army suffered but the ferocity of the Lobsox claws overcame the stationary defenses eventually. They had made it quite a distance up the path and Rex let out a low whistle. Wolf pricked his ears at the sight before them.

"Looks like we've found the hornet's nest." He radioed to Lucy. Huge, impassable walls of basalt rock blocked their way. Numerous soundbeam and anti-air towers were perched on many lower crags.

"There must be a landing pad inside the caldera, but that volcano is going to be a tough nut to crack for sure. It looks like a natural castle. We'll just have to find the weakest point and bust through."

"Did you learn tactics like that in journalism school?" Enquired Lucy with her usual dry wit.

"Listen. We've got to get our hands on one of those gyrocopters. It'll give us a huge strategic advantage."

"Watch you don't get stung looking for honey." Warned Lucy. She had noticed how many creatures had fallen already, and they'd barely gone beyond the western edge of the island.

More flying creatures attacked them as they continued, but even the chimp-eagles with their ranged attack couldn't avoid the deadly accuracy of the Oxine's quills. Rex called Lucy for a few more Oxine. They were taking the heaviest casualties, as every available rocky outcrop had a soundbeam tower perched upon it that the Lobsox couldn't reach. But steadily they reached the top of the slope and descended into a massive crater.

There was water at the bottom, and Rex collected the last two animals he needed, the gorilla and the crocodile. The latter wasn't as hard to collect as he'd feared - one was sunning itself on the rocky shore. Then he spied something else he'd been keeping an eye out for.

He ran across a low land bridge dividing the water into two small lakes, Wolf at his heels. Nestled in a small patch of land hemmed in by the caldera wall was a hanger and a landing pad. The helipad platform had a small fire burning away merrily on one side, and a rather worse for wear gyrocopter on top. A doleful looking henchman came out of the hanger to greet them, looking worried when Wolf trained his snowy gaze on him meaningfully.

"I radioed Ms La Pette for help, but she wouldn't send any. She's been cruel before, but leaving me to die is the last straw. If you spare me, I'll join you."

"We could use all the help we can get, but that bird don't look too good. How long before you can get it moving?" Rex questioned.

"At least a few minutes, maybe more."

"Allright, it's a deal, just don't forget who's side you're on now, capiche?"

"Boss, if you watch my back long enough for me to fix this thing, why, I'll fight a war for y' if I have to." The henchman told him loyally. Well, loyally for someone who'd just turned on their previous side. Rex turned away grimly.

"It may just come to that."


	13. Flying Machines, Part 2

Rex arranged his army in a loose circle around the edge of the henchman's little outpost. He was expecting aerial units to come over the wall and attack them, so it came as quite a shock when he saw there were armadillo/archerfish in the wider part of the lake below them.

"Where on earth did they..." Rex's question was answered when he saw a half-dozen more of the high-defense enemy creatures swim through an underwater tunnel he hadn't noticed, just under the water's edge. It was followed by a very large creature with a rounded shell, propelled swiftly by a crocodile tail. Some sort of turtle cross, clearly.

"We're in trouble."

His Lobsox dived into the lake to meet their attackers, and the nearest Oxine lined up on the water's edge to back them up.

He lost a Lobsox - the turtle half, he discovered, was a snapping turtle and they were vicious coupled with the crocodile's size and the tough outer shell to protect them. But he quickly realized that grouping his four remaining Lobsox right by the tunnel's entrance worked effectively. The armadillo-fish could only come through one at a time, and the lobster claws made short work of them four-on-one.

With the tough Oxine guarding against aerials threats, the gyrocoper was soon fixed. Rex told the henchman to head back to the main base and followed on Wolf, leaving the rest of the army to combat any fresh threats from the water tunnel.

They arrived as the radio crackled. "There's a penalty for being a traitor where I come from. **DEATH**!" Snarled Velika's voice. Wolf growled as Rex heard the familiar noise of the gyrocoper - but not their own, which had landed by the lab. Velika was paying them another visit. Lucy put her hands on her hips.

"You always were a sore loser, La Pette." She pointed out coldly.

"Oh, Monsieur Chance," Velika's voice took on an alluring tone. "Are you still carrying that old baggage? Why don't you pay me a visit,_ alone_? We'd have _far_ more fun without her."

The very thought made the hair on the back of Rex's neck stand up. "I'd rather hug a porcupine crossed with a wolverine!" He shot back, glaring at the hovering gyrocopter. Velika's furious face stared down at him. "Oh, believe me, Monsieur Chance, _that can be arranged. Goodbye_." She hissed, and angled the copter off towards her main base.

Rex squared his shoulders and strode back to Lucy. "Huh. Idle threat."

Lucy wasn't so sure. There had been something decidedly ominous about the way Velika had said 'goodbye'. She said as much to Rex.

"Velika's not really the type of woman to make idle threats, Rex. Perhaps we should prepare for a fight?"

Rex wanted off the volcano island. "We got what we came for, Lucy. Get the generators fired up. We've moving on."

The lab had lifted off and was skimming low over the water when Wolf, standing on the platform outside, set up a violent snarling and barking. Frowning, Rex left Lucy at the controls and opened the side door, meaning to step out and see what Wolf was making such a fuss about. Instead, a furry body slammed into him, shoving him inside and pinning him to the lab floor with a large feline paw. Before Rex could protest he saw a rainbow-coloured flash of electricity arc overhead. There was an explosion from outside that rocked the entire lab. Lucy managed to hang on to the controls, while Wolf, still holding Rex, dug the claws of his three free paws into the floor of the lab to steady himself.

The lab banked wildly to one side and Rex heard flames crackling from somewhere near the nose. Lucy compensated and managed to right the lab, but the sound of the engine was more like a wheeze than the usual hum, and through the open door he could see them dipping alarmingly low to the water below. He also saw something floating in the water - it looked like a ten-meter-long eel. Lucy quickly turned the lab around, just making it over the rocks to land the lab in the same spot as before. The henchman, who had been following the lab, landed his gyrocoper as well.

"My _lab_!" Mourned Lucy as she emerged, staring at the black smoke coming from the engine funnel. "It's going to take me forever to get this damage fixed. I'm really starting to run low on bailing wire now."

"We're going to have to take out her base here so we can safely move on." Rex decided, and instantly regretted the words. Lucy rounded on him, eyes flashing. "Geeze Louise, you think so?" She glared at him. "Damn you Rex Chance! I _told_ you this would happen!" She stomped back inside to assess the damage. Rex winced at Wolf. "You know, nobody likes and 'I-told-you-so', Lucy!" He called after her.

Wolf huffed a little sigh, nudged Rex to get on his back, and headed back to the lake. Lucy started on the repairs, after sending the henchman in his gyrocopter to help Rex.

Meanwhile, yet another problem had cropped up. Rex couldn't see any way for his creatures to get through to the other side of the island. He couldn't risk sending the Lobsox alone through the tunnel, or the many ranged attack creatures Velika favoured would overwhelm them. At least the creatures they had left had kept their formation. All four Lobsox were still floating in front of the tunnel, pincers at the ready.

Rex's eye landed on the gyrocoper as the henchman set it down on the landing pad and his eyes lit up. That was it! The flying machine was the key!

Rex then eyed the henchman with doubt. He had to have some brains if he'd fixed the gyrocoper, but that didn't make him a strategist, and there was no way he could fly the light machine with Rex in it as well. He would have to do this on his own.

"Allright, I want you to listen carefully. When you get over to the other side of the island, you're going to create a creature chamber as quickly as you can. Once it's built, make an anti-air tower and them some soundbeam towers. Speed is the key here, ok?"

The henchman gulped, wondering if he hadn't been better off with Velika. But with Rex and Wolf's unwavering gazes upon him, he knew there was no backing out.

"Yes, Boss." He climbed into the flying machine and took off from the landing pad.

Rex turned to Wolf and patted the thick fur on his cheek. "We haven't missed one yet, right boy? You up for this?" Wolf responding by throwing back his head and howling fiercely. Rex laughed. "Attaboy, that's what I thought! Ok, you Lobsox - through to the other side! Attack anything that's there, clear us a path! Wolf, let's go. Time for all that swimming practice to pay off."

On the other side of the island the henchman landed on the nearest available strip of flat land, jumped out, and started unloading the supplies for the chamber. He could hear animal snarls from up ahead and he gulped, unloading faster.

He had no idea the sounds were those of the Lobsox doing battle with the water chamber and the archerfish/armadillo that were guarding it. Rex was only a few steps - or as the case would have it, strokes - behind. He clung tightly onto Wolf's back, got a good hold of his neck fur, and nodded. Wolf sprang and hit the water, sending up a wave. Man and beast each took a large, deep breath and then Wolf dived, heading for the underground tunnel. It was a tight fit. Rex felt the rough stone roof brush the top of his head, and he frequently heard Wolf's extended claws hit the rocky bottom. But then there was a flash of sunlight and they broke the surface of the lake on the other side of the island.

The Lobsox foursome had been reduced to one, but they'd taken down the water chamber and all its Sigma guards. Rex, still clinging to Wolf's back, let the hybrid swim to the shore and clamour out. He ordered them to the new creature chamber the gyrocoper henchman had made, and was surprised when Wolf paused, letting the slower creature overtake them. "What is it, Wolf, do you hear somet-" Wolf answered by planting his paws and shaking his wolf-body violently. Rex fell onto his neck and clung with both arms. At last the earthquake stopped, and Wolf trotted calmly after the Lobsox. Recovering, Rex sat up and slapped him on the neck. "Hey! You think that was funny?"

Wolf made a small coughing growl. Rex sighed. "Wise guy."

They arrived to find the chamber built and the henchman working on an anti-air tower. Only somewhat dried off from Wolf's efforts, a dripping Rex slid off his back. "Good work!" He praised the henchman, building creatures from the new chamber. "Keep going on those defenses, though. We're going to need them."

When three Oxine and another Lobsox had been created, they were attacked by a small contingent of zebra/chimps had come along the western shoreline to ambush them. Rocks were hurled wildly at them. A mob of the tough armadillo/archerfish who'd been guarding the southern flank of the island joined in, firing water bolts. Yet more enemies poured down from the base, the swift and evasive giraffe/chameleons that had the ability to appear and disappear from Rex's line of sight.

Not so could they hide from Wolf. His keen canine senses quickly tracked them even when they were in their stealth mode, and he started to hunt them down fiercely. Rex's last original Lobsox fell, but more Oxine were pouring from their chamber and the fight would soon swing to their advantage.

They won, and Rex pulled the badly damaged Lobsox back behind the new soundbeam tower to regenerate. It had been surrounded by the zebra/chimps and was all but dead. Rex helped it move, using all his strength to tow the hefty lobster-ox, and gave it a reassuring pat as it settled to the ground. "Be good as new in no time." He promised it, and it grunted gratefully at the man.

In the time it took to get back to full health, Rex had a new army ready. He kept a queue in the chamber that would continue building after he'd gone. He had a feeling this battle would be a tough one.

Realizing where he was, Velika sent a trio of eagle/chimps to attach the landing pad on the other side of the island, but the Oxine from the original army stood stood faithfully on guard. They took care of the threat swiftly, only permitting a few rocks to be thrown by the chimp arms at all.

Rex set off for the base. His Lobsox tore down a few soundbeam towers on the way northward. There was a high rocky cliff blocking access to the water, and Rex spied a second water chamber sitting in the calm ocean below. He radioed Lucy and asked her to build a pair of Lobsox and send them around by sea. They would be able to take care of the chamber. He didn't want to leave Velika anything but scrap metal when they were done with this island.

A line of bramble fencing with a tiny gap marked the main camp entrance. There were soundbeam towers behind them, but these defenses meant little to Rex's army. Oxine firing overhead as Lobsox tore through the brambles, the thorns bouncing off their tough outer shell, they ripped into the base.

Beyond was the small collection of enemy structures. Genetic amplifier, chambers, anti-air towers - all powerless before Rex's ruthless army, backed up by fresh reinforcements. He targeted the production buildings first with the Lobsox, letting the Oxine spread through the base providing backup by killing both land and air based enemy creatures. Wolf tracked down any remaining giraffe/chameleons. Soon, all that was left was the lab.

"Tear it down." Rex told the creatures quietly, and by tooth, quill, claw and pincer, they did so.

But after it had fallen he found there were more structures awaiting on the higher hilltop. Skirting around rock walls, Rex and Wolf led them up. Aerial creatures continued to assault them so Rex knew there must be one final air chamber on the high hill. He devised a strategy to advance quickly, with a group of five Oxine covered the rest of the army from the rear as they moved forward. Soundbeam towers barred the way and Rex moved all the Lobsox to the front lines.

It was an air chamber on the hilltop, and it was furiously producing as many chimp/eagles as it could. Rex let the Lobsox do their dismantling while he, Wolf and the Oxine covered them. It didn't take them long. Then Rex and Wolf noticed the village who had been forced into a corner of the hillside, formerly surrounded by Velika's buildings.

"We surrender!" Wailed the chief as Rex and Wolf approached. Rex raised a pacifying hand. Watchful Wolf lay down on the grass, his head up and ears alert for sounds of danger.

"Hey look fella, I appreciate the surrender and all, but we've got no quarrel with you. Velika La Pette is the one we're after." He explained. The villager scowled and shook his head.

"She is a bad, bad lady. She has been kidnapping our people. My brother on a nearby island hasn't been heard from for months."

"Why would Velika want to kidnap villagers?" Wondered Rex. He'd kept his radio channel open for Lucy to hear, and now she chimed in.

"Whatever the reason, you can be _sure_ she's up to no good." She pointed out. Rex nodded a single, decisive nod.

"Right. Listen buddy, where _exactly_ is your brother's island?"


	14. Friend in Need, Part 1

**A Friend in Need**

**Whomever saves one life earns as much merit as if they had saved the entire world - Talmudic saying **

_From the research diary of Dr Lucy Willing,_

_June 18th 1937 _

_Case profile: Velika La Pette_

_Velika is from an old wealthy Persian family. Somehow they managed to avoid the guillotine during the revolution and survived to spawn a whole brood of nasty little aristocrats just like her. She's got a taste for fashion like a lion has a taste for meat, using combined animals to create new kinds of furs to sell to her high-society friends. _

_She and Julius get along grandly. I think he wants her for her less... tangible abilities. Along the way, they discovered their visions were complimentary. Julius wants to take over the world - and Velika wants to take over Julius. _

**Isla Ligatio **

**June 20th 2937 **

As Lucy brought the lab, Wolf leaped off as they hovered over the rich green grass, landing lightly and easily on his feline paws. Rex, watching him through the open door while Lucy steered, had to laugh. He stretched (Far more like a cougar than a wolf) then took off at a run, scouting the coast they'd landed on. As Rex and Lucy stepped from the lab's rear platform onto the ground they saw a pair of hippos and a couple of cheetahs dashing away from robust Wolf.

"This island is teeming with wildlife, Rex. It will be an excellent place for us to extend our genetic library of stock." Lucy observed, watching the hippos dive into the water to escape Wolf. Her little Frupine was riding on her shoulder, and he too started to emit little grunts when he saw they were back on solid land. Lucy put him down for a hop around near her feet, where she could keep an eye on him.

"Don't forget Lucy, we're here on a rescue mission. We've got to find out what Velika is doing, kidnapping villagers. Saving them has to be our top priority." Rex reminded her. She nodded, turning towards him. He'd shaved that morning and looked quite different without his usual stubble, she couldn't help but notice.

"Of course Rex, but there's no reason we shouldn't benefit along the way. We're going to need better creatures if we hope to stand up to Julius. We can kill too birds with one stone."

Rex thought the creatures he'd come up with had been doing a pretty decent job so far, but Lucy knew more than he did of what lay ahead.

At the mention of killing birds Wolf trotted up hopefully, tongue hanging out. Lucy halted him with a shove to his furry chest, stopping him in place, then reached down to scoop her tiny Frupine into her palms. "Watch where you're putting those great paws, Wolf!"

Wolf stared at the little creature in her hands, wagged his tail, and licked his lips. Lucy drew her Frupine closer and glared warningly. "Don't _even_ think it, buster!"

Trying to control his laughter, Rex gave one of Wolf's ears an affectionate tug. "Come on, big guy. Let's scout out the area and on the way back you can hunt, ok?"

Wolf barked, then reared up and threw his forepaws over Rex's shoulders. Solidly built and in shape Rex might have been, but Wolf weighed around three times what he did and he found himself sprawled on his back in the grass, Wolf gazing delightedly down at him. It was Lucy's turn to laugh, even the Frupine now perched safely on her shoulder again seeming to chortle.

"Come along then, Rex!" She called, deciding for once she wanted to scout with him instead of setting up base. A few henchman had been radioed ahead of time as usual anyway, and Lucy left them arguing over who got to construct which building.

Wolf led them to an apparently deserted village. None of the usual bustle and noise that went with them were present here. Lucy kept close to Rex, rather glad of Wolf's presence as he stalked a few paces ahead of them.

"Well, this place hasn't seen a soul in weeks." summed up Rex, looking about with a furrowed brow.

"It looks like they left in a hurry. And I don't think it was by choice." Lucy replied, noticing a half-empty basket that had been turned on its side, spilling out what appeared to be children's stick-figure toys.

Wolf went completely still suddenly. Rex walked into straight his backside, having been still gazing at the apparently abandoned huts beside them. Wolf swished his tail and gave him a little 'pay attention!' growl.

A villager ran up to them. "Help us!" He pleaded. "The evil sky witch keeps stealing our people!"

"Evil sky witch. Hmph. Sound like anyone we know, Lucy?"

"Velika La Pette! Rex, I want to help these villagers as much as you, but we need to collect some more powerful creatures first."

"You will not help us?" Exclaimed the villager, staring at Lucy. "Then you will not use any of our islands creatures!"

Before either of them could explain he ran over to a large, suspended round item Lucy had thought was some sort of pendulum. She realized her mistake when the villager seized a massive stick to beat it with, producing an incredible bass note that boomed like thunder. It was a very large drum.

Wolf uttered a short, painful howl and shot backwards several paces, pawing at his ears. Rex, concerned, went after him. Lucy could see other island creatures fleeing along the coast. The pair of hippos Wolf has been chasing for fun earlier struck out into the shallow water for a nearby sandbar Lucy thought was part of quite a large island.

The villager nodded, satisfied. "They will not return for a long time. Now if you want our help, you must save my people!"

"Why you no good, manipulative little creep!" Lucy exclaimed.

"Easy, Lucy." soothed Rex, after making sure Wolf had recovered. "Look fella, we'd be happy to help you out."

"You're still going to help him? After what he just pulled?" Lucy couldn't believe her ears.

"Well, that is what we came here to do. Besides, he's holding all the cards. It looks like we do need those creatures, after all. Now, where did Vel- I mean, the evil sky witch, take your people?"

"She locked them up near our great Temple." Replied the villager, and Rex nodded, taking Lucy's arm to head back to base. He patted Wolf apologetically.

"Sorry Wolf. Going to have to wait for that hunt."

Wolf looked back over his shoulder and growled softly at the villager, as if to say he'd _just see _about that.

The main buildings around the base had been set up by the henchman, who were now chipping coal. Lucy went inside the lab to get some research done to strengthen the creatures and their production.

When she emerged, Rex had things well under control. He was standing on the platform looking deep in thought, and she went to stand beside him. He turned to her with a thoughtful expression. "You know Lucy, I'm exhausted, and yet I fell... absolutely invincible. I thought that piranha bite from a few days ago would scar for sure, and yet I can't even see where it was. Then I cut myself shaving this morning, and it seems to have healed before my very eyes."

"I've noticed. It's remarkable, there's barely a scratch on you." He spent so much time on the front lines, fighting alongside the creatures, it was quite remarkable.

"It's true, I've always been a quick healer."

Wolf jumped up with a canine sigh, at a loss to comprehend why humans always had to chatter about everything. They'd scare any remaining prey away. He knew Rex could heal u cuts and scrapes, and he knew why. Rex faintly gave off the same scent he smelt when he went near the Lobsox. It was no mystery to Wolf. He stood up and bounded towards the bay, putting in an extra stride and leaping lithely out to the water chamber there. Her perched with great agility on the boom, staring down into the water with his intent ivory gaze.

At length Rex nudged Lucy, pointing to the chamber. She turned her head to see Wolf's paw flash down, whacking a fish straight up out of the water. He caught it neatly in his jaws. If he couldn't hunt, he'd make do with fishing.

Rex smiled to himself and headed to the creature chamber for a little editing before they started building an army. From what the villager had indicated, he and the creatures would have to swim the nearby channel to get to the main part of the island. His Oxine had served him well, but they wouldn't fit in this time around.

He wanted to keep a ranged attack creature though, and he found an excellent replacement when he experimented with the chameleon. It had a tongue attack to fire over distances. He couldn't combine it with the ox this time if he wanted it to swim... but he soon found an amphibious animal that would do nicely.

He gaped as he read over the crocodile's statistics. It had more health than anything he'd come across. Its defense was also excellent, and as well as its obviously powerful jaws it had a tail attack, resulting in a very high melee count. _This _he had to try.

A moment later he finalized the Chamodile for his army. The only chamelion part was the most necessary one, the head. It's tongue attacked could hit from twenty-five meters away. Rex was highly impressed. He decided to see what else he could combine the crocodile with.

He soon discovered that by replacing the ox in his Lobsox, he got an even tougher, healthier beast with a far high melee. It looked like something out of a nightmare, a lobster body, crocodile head and tail, huge lobster claws snapping in front. Knowing the Lobsox had pretty much run their course and served him well, Rex swapped them out for the new Crocobster with a mighty 34 melee damage.

When he tried out the gorilla with the crocodile, interested in the mighty pummel attack it had, he was surprised at how fitting the upright gorilla body went with the scaly face and tail of the reptile. They were almost streamlined. He couldn't resist adding these Gorodiles, even though they were slightly below the Crocobster in nearly all abilities. They looked like dinosaurs with furry bodies.

When Wolf returned to land fully sated, he found Rex standing in a circle of a score of new creatures. Lifting his paw to give Rex a leg up, Wolf barked for the attention of the new army, then set out for the shoreline. Every one of them followed, and Lucy sighed as she watched them go, absently patting her Frupine (She had long since learned to avoid its spiny shoulders). She hoped he would be able to rescue the villages, despite her earlier anger. She couldn't believe Velika wanted the people for experiments with Sigma. She preferred to think they'd simply been in her way, that she wanted their island and had found locking them up to be the easiest way to get it.

Still, she couldn't quite quiet the little voice in her conscience that pointed out Sigma seemed to breing out the worse in people.


	15. Friend in Need, Part 2

Rex swam alongside Wolf, so as not to make the crossing any more difficult for him. The waves were choppy, small but powerful, and Rex spluttered more than once an a mouthful of salty water.

But it wasn't a long swim, and they were soon on the sandbar of the second, larger island. Twelve Chamodiles, five Crocobsters and three Gordiles grouped around him on the sand. And Wolf, of course, who shook his thick fur all over everyone else.

A chimp/eagle soared over to throw rocks down at the little army, but the Chamodiles were on it. The flying primate was hit simultaneously by a dozen tongues and it plummeted from the sky with a scream of surprise.

"This way!" Rex called his creatures, and with various calls in response they surged after him. The Chamodiles communicated with a curious, quorking kind of sound. Gorodiles and Crocobsters, sharing the crocodile head, growled back affirmatives with gruff grunting voices.

Velika has created cheetah/archerfish crosses, with cheetah heads and large stiff fish tails for amphibious travel. They were quick, but not quick enough to be of much use. Such fragile creatures getting anywhere near Rex's durable melee animals got them nowhere fast, and as such they did the army very little damage.

Velika has utilized a natural, almost spiral shaped rocky hill to imprison the villagers. Rex and his creatures had to travel around the foot to avoid rocky outcrops that would have prevented them climbing up directly. He set the Crocobsters on the first soundbeam towers they encountered on the way and was amazed at their ability. He'd thought the Lobsox could rip down buildings effectively, but these things were something else.

A leopard-piranha hybrid provided slightly more challenging to bring down, but there just weren't enough of them to slow them down for long. Rex decided giant fish-heads were just as bad as oversized insects. The leopard-fish was a bizarre creature, with dark feline legs on a fish torso. The dorsal fin stuck up along its spine, an easy target for his creatures, who used it to pull them onto their sides to overpower more easily. The Gorodiles were adept at this, powerful gorilla fingers seizing the fin and flinging the much lighter creature aside.

As they battled their way onto the hilltop Velika must have realized what was happening, for about two dozen cheetah/archerfish attacked their rear. Rex left the melee animals on the hill ripping into anti-air towers, creature chamber and the fence itself penning in the villagers. He, Wolf and the Chamodiles focused on the speedy little enemy creatures. Despite their numbers they weren't much of a match, they had too little health to be a threat. They were defeated at around the same time the fences were torn down Smiling, Rex strode up the hill to the line of villages who ran out of the ruined fence.

"Ok folks, you're free to go. Ah, no pushin' and shovin', now."

"No way. We can't go anywhere with the protection of our goddess!" Exclaimed a spokesman.

Rex looked baffled. "What d'ya mean, you're staying? I just went to a lot of trouble to get you out of here. Some gratitude!"

"There are bad creatures in control of our Flaming Savannah Heads!" Explained the villager. "If you get rid of the creatures, we will be safe at the Flaming Savannah Heads because the goddess will smile upon us."

Rex sighed. "Ok, I guess I can't blame you for being afraid. I'll take care of them, and get you home."

The villagers waited until Rex had collected his army together, then followed nervously at a distance. Rex ran a hand through his hair and glanced down at Wolf. "Ever feel like our generosity is being taken advantage of?" He reached for his radio to ask Lucy for some backup.

Back on the sandbar, Lucy sent few a dozen more creatures to add to their army. There had been no casualties yet, and Rex was full of confidence. "Come on, let's clean out this island!" He called to the creatures, and they speed willingly along the coast, Wolf's paws kicking up sand behind him as he led them, Rex on his back.

Each Flaming Savannah Head - tall oval-shaped rocks with flat tops covered in some sort of slow-burning vegetation - typically had only a few eagle/chimps and maybe the assorted cheetah/archerfish on guard. They posed no problem and the sandbar was soon cleared. The villagers ran in a bunch behind the army, clustering around each flaming beacon with muttered prayers of gratitude.

From what Rex could see the island was set out in a sideways U. They were on the bottom, with a straight shot leading northward which then curved around to the west.

As they started up the northern stretch they encountered more soundbeam towers and another creature chamber. But there were very few creatures around the outpost, and Rex was convinced Velika must not have been expecting a lot of resistance on this island.

Just as the Gorodiles were smashing down the final tower, a very large shadow fell over them, the sound of huge wings flapping nearly drowning out Wolf's snarls. Rex was dumbfounded. Hovering over them was the stout figure of a hippo, suspended on massive eagle wings. It looked like a small aeroplane. The creature dived, looking more like a falling load of bricks than an animal that belonged in the sky. It snapped at the nearest Gorodile, catching it unaware and picking it up by its tail. Rex watched openmouthed as it lifted his creature completely, but the Gorodile was not so lost for a reaction. Hissing and snapping its reptilian jaw, it reached up with a brawny gorilla arm and snagged the nearest of the hippo's feet, yanking hard. Giant wings beat furiously as the hippo-eagle tried to get out of range, but with the Gorodile pulling on one side it instead dipped further towards Rex's waiting creatures. Wolf, his head angled up at the scene, growled warningly, tensing for a spring. Rex placed a hand on his neck to stop him, instead calling to the Chamodiles. "Attack the wings!" He knew that would be the oversized creature's weakness. As they fired the captured Gorodile increased its efforts, swiping and punching, and unable to avoid either attack the hippo/eagle crashed violently into the sand.

Rex checked on the injured animal. The hippo teeth had ripped even the rough reptile scales and there was a fair bit of blood, but the Gorodile grunted and used a big paw to push Rex away gently, returning to its place in the ranks. Rex smiled, impressed by how tough it was. "Ok, you can come. But take it easy and stay behind the others, okay?"

Next up was an air chamber on a high slope. It was perched out of reach by the ground-based creatures so Rex brought them to the front to guard while the Chamodiles took care of the chamber. It produced a few little chameleon/bats before they took it down, but their minute amount of health mean it only took the Chamodiles a single attack to kill them.

The melee creatures had encountered some trouble and Rex hastily brought the Chamodiles up to aid them. Archerfish/Griffie's were spitting their water attacks from a safe distance. Their formation was split up when the Crocobsters reached them, backed by the Chamodiles firing overhead.

This cleared the first small village, and some of the crowd still trailing them broke off. One approached Rex and Wolf.

"Thank you for saving our people."

"My pleasure." Rex told him gallantly.

"Please, take this as a gift!"

He presented them with a water-filled basket of piranha, into which Rex stared doubtfully. Everything inside him rebelled against the thought of putting his hand in that basket to collect a sample. "Oh, uh thank you."

A few more hippo/eagles slowed the army briefly as they pressed on, but they made it to the curve of the island where another creature chamber and more soundbeam towers awaited. It was becoming second nature to Rex to organize his close-combat creatures and the ranged attackers.

"Thank you for bringing our people home safely!" the next villager said to him as the final tower came down. Rex smiled. "It's the least I could do." He replied diplomatically.

"Here, a gift from our goddess!" He was given another basket, this one much lighter. And hissing. Rex realized it was a bat, but decided to leave that one until he had Lucy to help him collect a sample. He left it and the basket of piranha with the villager for safekeeping until he could come back.

The next enemy creature they encountered had Rex staring. This time it wasn't the size, although seeing a snake head the size of his own was somewhat unnerving. It was a turtle crossed with a spitting cobra. Luckily its fired venom struck a Crocobster, which immediately started to repair the damage.

His creatures fought back, but Rex was surprised that the relatively small creature stood up to as much punishment as it did. It couldn't be a high health statistic - Rex was more inclined to suspect the turtle shell provided a high defense, much like his lobster-crossed creatures had their tough exoskeleton.

A few more trundled up to spit venom at his army, but bringing forward his melee creatures did the trick. One-on-one in close quarters the turtle/cobras couldn't fire venom and high defense or not they couldn't stand up to lobster claws and gorilla pummeling, freeing another group of huts.

"Thank the goddess! Here, must take this as a sigh of our gratitude!" This basket buzzed warningly. Rex decided not to even look inside, but smiled instead at the villager.

"Hey Great! Thanks, little fella."

The next Savannah Head was better guarded. More turtles set in with a spitting attack, and Velika had combined a hippo with a chameleon in an attempt to stand up to Rex's powerful ranged creatures. Yet another creature chamber discharged more cheetah/archerfish from nearby. Rex set three of the Crocobsters on the buildings, leaving the rest of his creatures to combat the enemies. The injured Gorodile was first to fall, his bloodied tail marking him an an easy target.

But the familiar crash of collapsing metal soon signalled the fall of the chamber. The were nearing the end of the island and Rex knew they must be closing in on the main base by now.

He was proved right when they saw structures on the low hill above them. Rex let the Chamodiles pull down a few anti-air towers from the higher slope, but a steadily increasing amount of flying hippos attacking the head forced him to call them off. Spitting turtles had ganged up on a Crocobster and snapped him down to the point of collapse. Rex turned the Chamodiles on the aggressors just in time and hastily pulled his injured animal to the rear of the army. It was alive, but barely. Rex patted the crocodile snout comfortingly. "Ok, it's going to take a while for you to regenerate this sorta damage, buddy." He called over a Chamodile over to swim back to their base with the injured animal. He waited only long enough to check on the rest of them before they headed up the hill.

There were more soundbeam towers than Rex was able to recall seeing in one area, and at first, the waves of sound tripped up his army. But once the Crocobosters got close the towers were reduced to ruble within the space of seconds. There were few structures that could stand against that sort of might.

With only minor casualties (A pair of Chamodiles, another Gorodile and a Crocobster that rushed ahead of the main body and was caught in between three soundbeam towers) Rex felled the entire base.

"Thank you so much. We never thought we see our families again!" A final villager praised Rex. "Here, take this. It's the least we can do."

"Gee, you guys are real swell!" Rex said heartily, accepting a dinner-plate sized turtle from the villager. It was almost cute, Rex decided, giving the turtle a pat on the head. Wolf stared at the shelled reptile, gave it a dubious sniff, then rumbled deep in his throat. Rex laughed, tickling the turtle under its chin. "Wolf, what are you growling at? He's just a harmless little-" Rex's eyes widened as the turtle, striking like a snake, chomped onto his wrist.

"**YOW**!"

Velika, her gyrocopter landed on a stretch of flat land her research base had previous been set up, took in the flaming ruins of her buildings in shock. Three henchman stared at the wreckage.

"Sacre bleu! What has happened here? This won't do, this won't do at all.

You!" She turned on the nearest henchman. He looked decidedly nervous. "Me?"

"Stay here, and find out what has happened!" Velika ordered.

"Heeey... where you guys going?" The henchman asked desperately as his fellows headed after Velika.

She turned around. "The bloodthirsty savages that did this are probably still here. I need to be where it is safe." Whimpered Velika, climbing into the gyrocoper and flying away at top speed. The other two henchman squeezed into the gyrocoper that had been part of the destroyed base, rescued before the battle.

The lone henchman gulped visibly. "Blood... bloodthirsty savages?" He repeated, horrified.

"You should be more worried about _us_." The henchman turned to find himself facing a grim-faced man with dark hair and an unforgiving gaze, a tough-looking woman holding a rifle, and a snarling, menacing wolf-face with even less forgiving white eyes.

He noticed the man's arm was bleeding.

"Uh! I don't want any trouble!" Stuttered the henchman. Wolf moved a step closer to him with every word he said, until his bared teeth were right in front of the man's nose. Rex caught him by the collar with his good arm and yanked him in a rough half-circle, right as the henchman looked on the verge of fainting under Wolf's threatening stare.

"Then tell me why Velika's been kidnapping villagers." He demanded. Wolf prodded him with a large paw, all the claws extended, to back his master up.

"She wants them for her experiments! With the Sigma technology!" The terrified henchman revealed.

"That's horrible! The Sigma technology isn't even supposed to work on humans." Lucy exclaimed. Rex dropped the henchman like a sack of potatoes. Wolf loomed over him as he started to crawl away.

"Lucy, I've had just about enough of Velika La Pette." Rex told Lucy tightly.

"What do you have in mind?" She questioned. Wolf used his claws to scratch, lightly, at the henchman's arm. He froze in place.

"We have to put a stop to what she's doing here. If we don't care of her once and for all, I'm sure she's going to harass us all the way until we reach Julius. Get the lab prepped. We're taking the fight to _her_." Rex turned his head to watch Wolf playing cat-and-mouse with the henchman. A sharp, sudden surge of anger made him consider, for a moment, letting Wolf have him. It was no less than what anyone who'd help Velika experiment on humans deserved.

The flash passed just as quickly. Puzzled, Rex told himself some of the henchman had proved willing allies when given the chance. They'd certainly have a harder time setting up the base without the messages radioed ahead on back channels, ensuring a few henchman who wanted out of Velika's grasps turned to them, instead.

"Come on, Wolf. Let him go." Rex called, and followed Lucy down the hillside.

Wolf cast one final glare at the cowering henchman. He pressed his paw down over the man's hand, his claws digging into the skin enough to draw tiny pinpricks of blood. _Next time_, promised those white eyes. Then Wolf turned and loped after his humans.


	16. The Wicked Sky Witch, Part 1

**The Wicked Sky Witch**

**All animals are equal, but some are more equal than others - George Orwell**

_From the journal of Rex Chance, June 20th, 1937 _

_It's been over a week since I first arrived on these islands. It hasn't exactly been a tropical vacation. I feel I'm holding up well. In some ways, I feel more alive than ever. I've always excelled under pressure, all this combat has honed my senses to a fine edge. I... just don't remember feeling this aggressive before._

_Time to get my head out of the clouds and back to the task at hand. Velika La Pette now stands directly in our way, which means we're going to have to do some good old-fashioned shoving to get her to step aside. _

Velika stood in front of her main base. A large squat tree had a triple-building treehouse built into and around it, forming her lab.

"Rex Chance and his little strumpet are sure to come after me. I'll send those two bumbling brothers after THEM!"

Two identical looking henchman dashed up, as much as their portly figures could dash. "We're here. Just like yous ordered."

"We are going to have visitors! Prepare your creatures for a fight! I'm sending out the scouts." She raised her hands as a mob of winged chimpanzees flew overhead.

"FLY, MY PRETTIES! **FLY**" She crowed after them as they winged their way towards the south coast of the island.

Rex and Lucy approached the island from the north. Rex, for a change, was steering, while Lucy gazed down at the shore.

"To the best of my knowledge, this island is where Velika has set up base."

"Good. It's about time we paid her a visit to tell her how much we appreciate the hospitality she's shown us." Rex said with an ironic smile. Lucy came back over to stand beside him, watching him handle the lab's controls. "That's good, now over that rock pile - REX, OVER it! - bring it in a _little_ more gently, that's ri-"

Wolf, riding on the outside platform in his usual daytime spot, wisely extended his claws and dug them into the wood. The lab bounced a little as Rex landed on the beach. Lucy pulled a few stray hairs off her forehead and tucked them back into her ponytail. "Not bad." She said wearily, opting for the diplomatic approach.

They had landed on a wide stretch of beach, ending in a sand bar to the west but open to the east, and with a northern main entrance leading downhill to their shore. A trio of waiting henchman waved from the shade of some palm trees further up.

Lucy was first to exit the lab while Rex powered down the controls, and Wolf leaped down beside her, sniffing happily at the sand. A second later his head whipped up and his familiar warning bark split the air. Lucy spied a chimp/eagle flying toward them.

"Rex!"

He appeared on the platform. "Stop that bird!" Cried Lucy, and Rex, his rifle ever ready in the holster he had strapped over one broad shoulder, loaded a neurotoxin dart and fired. Wolf ran over as it fell, satisfied himself it was dead, and came trotting back.

"Good job." Praised Lucy. "By the looks of it that was one of Velika's scouts. It'll be a while before she realizes that one's missing, but she's sure to have more. We need some time to set up base..."

"That won't be a problem." Rex raised the rifle. "We'll keep watch while you set up. We'll take them out before they have a chance to alert Velika."

Lucy nodded. "Good plan. I'll get started."

Rex, Wolf standing faithfully at his side, stood at the forefront of the base, rifle ready, eyes scanning the skies. Wolf's sharp senses kept just as vigilant watch as well. Thinking on his feet, Rex called one of the henchman to build an anti-air tower to the west of the base.

The first few flying scouts proved no problem. Buildings went up behind him as Rex kept his rifle raised and Wolf paced a restless track in the sand, always looking up. Then the scouts seemed to realize where the base was, and more at once started to converge on them. Rex reloaded as fast as he could, and Wolf made an impressively mighty standing jump and dragged one out of the air, after it snuck in over the rocky outcrop by the main entrance. The pressure eased considerably as the anti-air tower was finished. The chimp/eagles couldn't stand up to the deadly electrical arc that zapped toward them.

"Good work Rex, we'll really be able to get the jump on her now!" Called Lucy happily, and he shot a smile in her direction, jogging to help her with the water chamber she was setting up.

"What sort of creatures habit this island, Lucy?" He was thinking about their last mission and their intentions to create some stronger animals.

"Hmm. Hippopotamus, cheetahs, komodo dragons, rhinoceros, and hammerhead sharks. Hold up this part of the boom, would you?"

Rex, knee-deep in water, lifted the heavy boom up with no apparent effort. "Hammerhead sharks? Are you kidding me? How am I going to collect one of those?"

Lucy looked over her shoulder. "Why don't you just take a sample from the one you're about to step on?" She enquired calmly. Rex's gaze shot to the water, and to his horror, saw a large grey shape longer than he was tall lazily hovering in the water beside his left ankle.

"Argh!" He let go of the boom, stumbling backwards in an effort to remove himself from the hammerhead's near vicinity. He managed to trip, landing in a sitting position right beside the shark. It turned its hammer-shaped head to appraise him, fearless and relaxed.

"Wolf! Why didn't you warm me?" demanded Rex, half-waiting for the beast to bite his leg off. The shark's fins moved lazily. Rarely in these largely uninhabited islands had he encountered humans. He wasn't the slightest bit anxious or afraid at having one sit in the water beside him.

Wolf lifted his head. He was lying on his belly, enjoying the warn sand, eyeing Lucy's Frupine which was investigating a tussock of grass that had managed to take root in the sand. He wuffed lightly and pointed his muzzle in the direction of Rex's fishy friend, then put his head back on his paws, still watching the much smaller Sigma animal.

"Gee, thanks." Rex moved back onto the shore and loaded the rifle with quite a strong tranquilizer. The shark flinched slightly as the dart hit, but Rex hard a difficult time telling if it had worked as the shark's lidless eye remained open. Nervously he collected a sample, uttering a sigh of relief once it was done. Sharks weren't an animal he wanted to mess around with.

"Rex?"

"Mmm?" He had been about to head back to the chamber with the new sample.

"Could you please tell your crazy canine to get his paws off my pets?!" Exclaimed Lucy, pointing. Rex turned his head to see Wolf crouching on the little patch of grass. He was licking his lips and the claws on his forepaws were extended. One paw had been raised in preparation to poke at the Frupine. Amazingly, the little hybrid was standing up to him, porcupine forepaws and frog hindlegs braced firmly as it growled a tiny, warning, 'Arrrrrrrrrrra." at Wolf. Rex caught his 'crazy canine' by the tail and gave him a light tug. "Leave it alone, Wolf, you'll end up with a piercing." Rex warned.

They had only a short while longer of peace. Wolf's snarl heralded the arrival of a gyrocpter which hovered above the reach of the anti-air tower.

"So, Monsieur Chance, do you come bearing gifts?" Velika asked coyly. Rex folded his arms. "I have a couple dozen combined creatures I wouldn't mind introducing you to."

"Oh, men, so aggressive!" Velika chided. "It will take more than your wild beasts to tame me! Humphry! Bugsy! Attack this cretin!"

The reply came back through the radio.

"Sure thing Ms La Pette. Me and my brother'll show Mr Chance a thing or two."

"Yeah, we'll show him." Agreed a second voice, identical to the first.

Laughing wildly, Velika flew away, back to her main base.

Rex frowned. "Right. Lucy, Wolf and I are going to see if we can collect the last few animals on this island before we start getting attacked. Build me a dozen Chamodiles and throw in a handful of Gorodiles and Crocobsters. And get the henchman in the 'copter to build another anti-air tower and some soundbeam towers to the west and on that slope."

He set out, riding Wolf. Wolf's sharp canine senses were able to track better than Rex could, and they quickly located a hippo just up from the base, and then a cheetah. A komodo dragon was located further west, sheltering in the shade of several trees. Rex debated weather or not to go on and look for the rhino, but decided against it. He was getting quite far form the base and he knew there was three different enemy camps now that would shortly be sending creatures.

"Come on, Wolf. Back to base." He swung up over Wolf's shoulder, and they loped for home. As they were approaching the hill that sloped on its opposite side down to their main entrance, Wolf's ears shot straight up on his head. Rex frowned, sure he could hear some sort of buzzing noise.

A second later, he saw huge horned shapes, striped in black and yellow, heading towards the west flank of their base.

"Rhino hornets!" Rex yelled. "Not good!" Wolf had already charged forward, kicking into his highest speed, nearly leaving the man on his back behind as he pelted into the base. He grabbed handfuls of wolf-fur, yelling grimly as they darted past the creature chamber. "Lucy, take cover in the lab!"

The giant bloated beasts dived on one of the newly constructed soundbeam towers. Each of them - there were six in total - hit it in succession, folding it like it was made of paper. Rex leaped form Wolf and loaded the neurotoxin darts. He fired at one as the anti-air towers took care of another. A half-dozen Chamodiles dashed up to provide support and fired their ranged attacks. The four rhino/hornets dived on the creatures and tore one of the Chamodiles to shreds before their very eyes. Wolf uttered a snarl of rage and took off. Three giant strides he took before he sprang like a diver off a highboard. His smaller figure collided with one of the rhino/hornets. He clung on, using his feline paws to claw his way up the rounded side, leaving bloody gouges. The beast veered erratically in the air, unable to reach Wolf with its stinger, insect legs, or rhino horn. Wolf made it onto the back of its neck and without hesitation his bared jaws shot downward. Bitten through the top of its spinal cord, the giant monster died in the air and crashed down to the ground, unfortunately on top of a second soundbeam tower that collapsed under the weight.

"Wolf!" Cried Rex in worry, but his fierce hybrid was hopping calmly, unhurt, from the back of his foe. Rex turned back and shot down another, while the anti-air towers collected a second and the remaining Chamodiles notched up the final one.

"Whew." Rex stared at the huge bodies in relief. "That was a shock. Let's get some more anti-air towers over here, and make sure you rebuild those towers. Up on that rocky outcrop would be good." Lucy, who had been watching from one of the lab's windows, cane running out and knelt by Wolf, checking him over. He patently extended his paws for her examination, then gave her a little nudge.

"He really isn't harmed." Marvelled Lucy. "Wolf, you were very brave. I've never seen a jump like that!" She gave him a hug around his shaggy neck, making Wolf's tail wag. Rex ruffled him behind the ears. "Must have nine lives, eh?"

They got some more creatures built. The open western side was positioned close enough to the main entrance that Rex could spread his army in a loose semi-circle and have them back up either section. As soon as he had a score of creatures, he called to Lucy. "I've got to take care of at least one of those bases before they get established. I'll try for the western one, the one that sent those hornet things. Keep building creatures - I'll be as quick as I can."

Rex found the cheetah in the hilly area they spend a few moments in, observing the base below. As Rex suspected it was not yet well defended. He formed a quick plan.

"Right, you five Chamodiles stay up here, start firing on the towers and any creatures that get near enough. Chamodiles attack the soundbeam towers first, Wolf and I take care of any enemy creatures, and Gorodiles and Crocobsters head for the creature chamber and air chamber, taking down any leftover towers on the way. Let's go."

The five Chamodiles left on the slope started firing downhill at the nearest soundbeam tower. A small collection of archerfish/baboons and leopard/frogs came charging around the rocky slope to reach them and were promptly felled by Rex's waiting army, who charged in the moment they were taken care of. With only one or two creatures left inside the base, the army walked straight in and started ripping down towers.

The henchman simply couldn't produce anything fast enough to stop Rex's forces. With half the buildings destroyed entirely or in flames, Rex let them attack the lab. "Hm, that was easy."

"Bugsy!" Mourned the second henchman's voice over the radio channel. "My long lost brother! We only just found each other last week! You better watch yourself, Rex Chance. I'm comin' for ya."

Wolf growled dismissively. Rex patted his head. "Just for that, think we ought to take him down too - before we pay a visit to Velika?"

Wolf bared his teeth in a canine grin. Rex laughed. "Thought that's what you'd think. Come on, let's collect some reinforcements back at the base."


	17. The Wicked Sky Witch, Part 2

A plague of agile looking rat/camels were harassing them from the main entrance when they got back to the base. Eight new Chamodiles and two soundbeam towers were all firing at them though, and by the time Rex got there they'd been dealt with.

"He sounded pretty angry, Rex." Lucy said by way of greeting, referring to the remaining brother to the operator of the destroyed base.

"Good. That means he's less likely to think strategically and he'll be less of a threat."

"Are you going to attack his base before Velika's?"

"I think I just might. What do you think?"

"Well, it's your decision. But I think it'd be safer to take out the other base first."

Rex drummed his fingers on the side of the lab. "Well, the stronger we are when we face Velika, the better. If I head for the second base, you can build me some more creatures to join us before I try for Velika's."

"Sounds good to me. Be careful."

"Careful is my middle name!" Joked Rex, calling the creatures together. He left Lucy a few Oxine to help protect the base until more creatures were produced and they started north up the island.

The second brother had better defenses, half on flat ground and half on top of a hill, both leading into the base. Rex split his army, he and Wolf leading the main body up the hillside, where bramble fences and soundbeam towers protected a creature chamber. There were more baboon/archerfish waiting there to spit water at them and Rex concentrated on bringing those down while his creatures took down the towers and the chamber itself. At first he ignored the tiny bats flying about over the base, but he soon paid attention when he saw a bolt of colourful electricity arc from the tiny jaws of one, pelting into one of his Chamodiles. The hit reptile grunted in pain, but turned its tongue attack on the frail enemy creature. As another zipped overhead Rex saw the rounded head and realized what the combination had been. Bats crossed with electric eels!

Oh, he wanted electric eels.

He organized a half-dozen Chamodiles to stand watch on the skies and bring down the mob of tiny flying animals, while he let the Gorodiles, Crocobsters and Wolf rampage through the base. They had taken more damage this time, but they were still winning.

Right up until the point he called his army to surge down the slope to a second creature chamber, and was set upon by a herd of giraffe, all spitting cobra venom over a huge distance. Rex ordered Wolf to keep back from these enemies and let the regenerating Cocobsters charge instead. Poison meant little to them, or the Chamodiles he had return fire.

There were enough of Velika's creatures to deal some damage to Rex's, but despite the giraffe/cobras' venom and range at which they could fire it, their health and defense were nothing special.

"Going to take a lot more than that to slow us down." Rex said as the final one died. His Gorodiles had not fared well against the poison attacks and the mass of soundbeam towers in this base, and he'd lost all five he'd brought with him, but there were still four Cocobsters and nearly two dozen Chamodiles remaining. He let them loose on the lab.

"That's both brothers down, Rex." Lucy's voice over the radio was approving. "Now we can put a stop to Velika!"

"That's what I thought. Now, I think might be able to reach Velika by following the coastline here around to the east..."

As he assembled his army on the beach, a second herd of giraffe/cobras attacked, managing to kill a Chamodile before they were taken care of. Rex radioed Lucy to send anything else she had built up to back them up, but decided not to wait. The sooner he pressed on the better chance he stood of catching Velika unprepared to repel his attack.

"Wow. There's a great waterfall hidden back here, Lucy." He commented as they made their way along a sandbar. The fresh water poured over a small cliff beside them, and a few of his creatures, including Wolf, stopped to drink.

"These were very beautiful islands once, Rex. Before Julius decided to turn them into his battlegrounds." she sighed.

"Hey, don't worry Lucy. We'll get them cleaned up." Rex reassured her. "We just need to take out a little trash, that's all."

"Rex, I've got to go repair one of the towers, we just had a visit from some more of those flying chimpanzees."

"Okay. I'll radio you after I'm done with Velika's base."

The front of the base was the best defended one yet. To the left were three soundbeam towers blocked off by brambles, and directly ahead a further three with a V-shape of brambles. Rex ordered a Crocobster around each side, and the Chamodiles to fire on the towers to the left. A combined rival army of electric bats and spitting giraffe thundered downhill and opened fire. Rex gritted his teeth, urging the animals to keep fighting. . Slowly, they advanced. Rex directed the Cocobsters to attack a creature chamber. The Chamodiles started to come under fire from yet another hilltop, only reachable by a narrow channel, hemmed in by sheer rocky drops. Wolf was making leaps and snaps at more bat/eels.

"I want to show you my special blend: French Roast!" Velika screeched with laughter. Rex arranged his Chamodiles so some were firing uphill and others advanced. Soundbeam towers fell, as did creatures from both sides. Lucy's reinforcements arrived and leaped into the fray, three Cocobsters making it up the hill and immediately heading for the last few soundbeam towers. Rex edged up some of the Chamodiles to join in. Wolf darted through agility, used the nearby air chamber as a springboard, and hurtled up into the air, catching a newly-created chimp/eagle between his outstretched paws. With incredible precision he maneuvered its body under him so as they hit the ground, he was cushioned by the enemy. His jumping skill just got better every time, Rex thought.

"There's the lab!" Rex still recognized the structures built in the tree. "Bring down those two chambers!" An air and a creature chamber were all that was between them and the lab now, both still pumping out enemies as fast as they could. All of the remaining Crocobsters had made it up by now. The final soundbeam towers crashing down, they raced for the two chambers. The Chamodiles alternated between shooting new creatures and the chambers. The air fell first, the creature chamber shortly afterwards. "**ATTACK THAT LAB**!" Rex roared at the top of his lungs. They did so. There was nothing left to stop them. "Lucy, you better get over here if you want to see this."

With his army targeting the supportive branches and beams that held three separate building in the tree, it quickly came crashing down. The weight of the falling structures actually tore down half of the tree, snapping it off midway up the trunk. Roaring and grunting their success, the creatures split up to take care of the remaining buildings, mainly anti-air towers and lightning rods.

Velika, her forehead bleeding, crawled from the largest building of the treehouse. "This is terrible! I must get away!" she whimpered, tiptoeing nervously to her nearby gyrocoper, using the fallen branches as cover. Sliding into the seat, she stared over the flaming wreckage. "My lab! My gorgeous wardrobe, my _furs_!" She ranted as she fired up the propeller of the engine. Unwittingly, the sound drew Wolf's attention. Growling, he shoved boughs aside as she shouldered through the wreckage.

Velika was still threatening. "They'll pay for this!" Her gyrocoper had taken off. "They'll PAY!"

Rex noticed the rising craft and uttered a shout. Lucy, just arrived, ran over, seeing the same thing. "She can't get away this time!" Lucy groaned to Rex. But the Chamodiles were too far away to shoot her down, and they watched, powerless as her craft rose out of range.

An instant later they spied a tawny and grey figure racing along a diagonal, sloping tree limb. The end was roughly ten meters up in the air. As Wolf reached the end his body lowered, his forepaws hitting the rough bark and then tucking up under his chin, his hindlegs pushing off more strongly than they ever had.

Wolf sailed through the air, closer and closer to the rising gyrocopter. At first Rex thought he would miss it altogether, then panic crossed his face as he thought his loyal friend would hit the propeller.

Wolf did neither. His waited until it had reached the apex of his mighty leap, then aimed his jaws with utmost precision. He tore away a mouthful of wires and a piston with a single snap, falling to land heavily but safely on all four paws.

"Wolf!" Exclaimed Rex and Lucy together, running to him. Wolf dropped the wires at Rex's feet and barked triumphantly. Rex and Lucy turned to watch the gyrocopter. It was high now, and over the ocean, but suddenly gave a violent lurch to the side. Flames erupted from the rear motor.

"This.. isn't possible! Aaaiiiii!" Screamed Velika.

The gyrocopter went into a tailspin, plunging into the ocean.

Rex was unforgiving. "Huh. Gravity one, Velika, zero." He noticed Lucy's downcast expression. "Hey, what gives? We won."

"I never expected to see the technology misused like this." She explained brokenly, gesturing to the ripples from the fallen gyrocopter. "We've got to stop the rest of them!" She clenched her fists.

"Slow down, sister." Rex placed a large comforting hand on Lucy's shoulder. "The villagers are safe. Velika's grounded." He turned her around to gaze out over the bay. The sun was setting and the sky was streaked pink and orange. "Why don't we just enjoy the sunset together." He suggested.

They stood together in silence, Wolf sprawled out just in front of their feet, satisfied with the day's work.

Lucy turned her head, realizing Rex still had an arm wrapped around her. Primly, she picked up his hand and moved it away from her shoulder before letting it go.

Some things didn't change, his hygiene among them.


	18. Mouth of the Beast, Part 1

**Impossible Creatures: Chapter Nine, Part One: Mouth of the Beast**

**"An effective way to deal with predators is to taste terrible.- Unknown Author **

_Upton Julius transmitting to all bases. Be on the lookout for two individuals, a man and a woman, travelling in an early-prototype mobile lab. They are Rex Chance and Dr Willing. They must be captured alive. Do not interfere with their passage. I have a special surprise waiting for them on Isla Perculsus. _

**Isla Perculsus**

**June 25th 1937**

Rex sat beside the open door to the rear platform, Wolf lying outside enjoying the wind in his fur. They were passing a very dry, dusty looking island. It was, in fact, the best example of a desert island Rex had ever seen, and he said as much.

"This looks like a pretty desolate looking place."

"That's Isla Perculsus, a hot and arid hunk of rock. Luckily, we don't need to stop here as there's nothing of interest." Lucy told him dismissively.

Rex stood up, walking over to Lucy to stare out the window over her shoulder. He looked back at Wolf, who looked alert, but was showing no signs of alarm. "This doesn't feel right. Steer clear of this whole island, Lucy."

"Whatever for Rex? I think you're starting to get jumpy." She teased lightly, amused. They rounded a solid pillar of rock marking one corner of the island, and her expression changed. "What's that?!" Rex caught sight of several very large, shadowy shapes in the water right below them. Wolf exploded into a fury of barking from outside. Rex gave a shout of alarm as three electricity bolts shot towards them. There was a horrifying explosion that left human and canine ear alike ringing.

"We've been hit, we're going down!" Lucy cried a warning too late. Rex was thrown to the side as the lab dropped alarmingly. There was a crunch as they hit a rocky outcrop, bounced, crunched down again, then screeched across the stones with a horrible sound of stressed metal. Rex rolled underneath the table, which was bolted to the floor, and threw one arm around the strut. Just in the nick of time, since the rock outcrop came to a very sudden end while the lab continued, becoming airborne again. With one last crash they slammed into the ground, this time soft desert sand that at least acted to cushion them somewhat. Rex and Lucy stumbled out of the lab, which had flames erupting from the nose and the left fan. Rex grabbed her shoulders anxiously.

"Lucy! Are you all right? Count your legs and arms!"

"I'm fine." Lucy reassured him. But where's Wolf?"

They both looked around. They had crashed on a sand bar with only one small area of higher ground, and that was the hill they'd clipped on their way down. It was from here that Wolf, who had been thrown clear in the first crash, barked for their attention. He appeared at the top of the rocks and scrambled his way down, keeping his claws out for grip and using his tail for balance.

"He's all right." Breathed Lucy in relief. "But my lab... I'm going to need some time to replace all the fuses. We're sitting ducks. I'll radio our allies from the last island to see if there's any henchman who might be able to lend us a hand here, too. I have a feeling we're going to need it." She checked on the status of the henchman who'd originally helped them retrieve the gyrocopter, and had been following them with his flying machine ever since. He was already collecting the materials for soundbeam towers together. Rex's mind was elsewhere.

"That was a well planned attack. This has to be the work of Upton Julius." He was still slightly shaken from the crash but was determined not to show it.

"I'll get started on the repairs. In the meantime, you watch my back."

Rex grinned to himself. "My favourite job." He murmured, but unfortunately for him Lucy had sharp ears. "_Excuse me_?"

"Uh..." Rex gulped. "Nothing." He said quickly. Lucy harrumphed and went back inside the lab. Wolf's ears were twitching rapidly and he stuck by Rex. The man noticed the hair on his scruff was bristling.

"Guess we can expect visitors soon. Let me know if you see anything."

Wolf padded over to the ocean and fished about with his paw. He flicked something long and serpentine towards Rex.

"Electric eel!" Rex delightedly collected a sample. A plan formed in his head and hastily, he set about constructing a creature chamber. He needed to make a quick blueprint.

A trio of swift-moving coyote-ants reached the base before he had the chance. They arrived with a pair of henchman sympathetic to their cause. As Rex and Wolf tackled the quick but fragile enemy creatures, Rex shouted at one henchman to build nothing but soundbeam towers in all directions, and the other to get their line of construction set up in the form of chambers.

Hyena-komodo dragons arrived with another wave of coyote-ants no sooner had Rex dispatched of the first lot. Wolf charged in, jaws snapping and claws outstretched. Rex fired again and again. "Hurry up with that creature chamber!" He yelled, desperate for some more defense. Wolf's nose was bloodied as a hyena-komodo managed to score his face with long lizard claws. He responded by snapping at the foot and ripping it away from its owner. The first soundbeam tower was built, and destroyed, before Rex could stop the coyote-ant pack.

As soon as Wolf was pulling down the last enemy Rex ran to the newly finished creature chamber, loaded the sample he'd collected from the eel and combined it hastily with the rhino DNA. He didn't have time to mess around analyzing it. He grabbed the rhino body, threw on the eel head and tail, and accepted the blueprint. He had time the glance at it and see it had good defense, health, and could fire its ranged attack of 20 points over twenty-four meters.

"Build them! We need them yesterday!" He yelled at the chamber, asking for as many as they could build at one time. "And you - once you've done with that soundbeam tower I want an anti-air built in the middle of the base!"

Wolf's snarl signalled more enemies arriving. Rex was horrified to see tall camels with eel heads. They advanced towards the base and Rex readied his rifle.

"_How's it coming_, Lucy?" He asked between gritted teeth, taking his first shot. Wolf charged.

"It's coming. Give me five more minutes!"

Rex nearly choked. A group of electric eel-vultures arrived and dived on the lab. The henchman frantically tried to hurry and finish the anti-air tower.

"You've got to be _kidding_ me! We're getting eaten alive out here!"

Rex broke off to bellow as a coyote-ant that seemed to have appeared from nowhere sprung at him, slicing into his forearm nearly with its huge insect claws. Wolf ripped it away and bit savagely through its neck. A moment later he was howling in pain as the vultures overhead fired their electric charge at him. Rex was attacked by two more coyote-ants. One of them attached itself to his ankle and the other made wild leaps towards his face. Wolf snapped and snarled at the swooping vulture eels but they stayed out of range of his teeth and claws. A sudden rage filled Rex. He snatched the leaping coyote-ant by one spindly leg, used his other hand to grab the top of its head, ripped away the leg and slammed the body violently down into the creature chewing on his ankle. That one squealed and backed off, but Rex followed it and swung the butt of his rifle, hitting it in the back of the head and killing it instantly. The tower was finished at that moment and started to fire at the vulture-bats. Wolf leaned on Rex in relief, his fur singed in several places. Rex's anger left him as quickly as it came and he patted Wolf between his ears, one of which was bleeding. The newest soundbeam tower was finishing off the vulture-eels wheeled away from them to try to and retaliate against the tower, but the tower had a faster and stronger rate of fire than the little enemy creatures did.

With them taken care of they were given a reprise, but Rex knew it was not going to last. "You, keep building those soundbeam towers! Get some by the coastline and a couple up to the north. No, the **other** north!"

His first Eeri suddenly discharged from the chamber. Both Rex and Wolf stared at it. It towered nearly as high as the lab, its great hooves shifting restlessly, white eyes turning to appraise them in return. Rex walked over to it and held out his hand. The Eeri pushed its nose into Wolf's outstretched palm. It made a small, almost friendly grunt.

A second later it turned and opened fire with a burst of rainbow electricity at the trio of crocodile-scorpions that swam from the north to assault the top of their base. The henchman had just started the second soundbeam tower in that area, but faced with three horrifying beasts with pincers the size of small trees he opted to flee to the other side of the let him go - in his head he wished he could do the same. He knew from his Crocobster mix these things were going to be tough. He raised his rifle. Wolf attacked from behind, snapping and harassing and darting away before they could turn their their giant claws or their lethal stinger-tails on him, trying to buy Rex some time.

One of them clawed up the nearest soundbeam tower. Rex reloaded. A second Eeri joined the first and starting firing.

"I'm just charging up the batteries, Rex, only two or three more minutes!" Reported Lucy from inside. Each minute felt like a year to Rex. Two more crocodile-scorpions attacked from the east, targeting the two soundbeam towers still standing. Rex shot one down but Wolf's frantic barks of alarm drew his attention to the coastline. Nearly a dozen baboon-archerfish had lined up along the shoreline and were firing bolts of water at the lab. Wolf charged, twisting in front of them and running a loop around them. Without realizing he'd said anything Rex sent an Eeri thundering up to help. There was no time to dwell on this as a fresh set of vulture-eels made another pass at the anti-air tower. Rex raised his arm to signal the newest Eeri and it galloped over to him at once to back him up.

"Things are getting a little _hairy_ out here, Lucy. _Literally_." The blood from his injury was pouring down Rex's arm but he ignored it. He shot down a vulture-eel the tower missed. Another brief rest for a few seconds. He gazed at the Eeri that had approached him with the barest motion. "You know Lucy, I'm developing a real affinity for the creatures. I'm getting a feel for how they operate and communicate as a group. It's like I'm part of the pack."

Lucy was busy trying to get the lab powered up. "That's a real romantic notion there, Tarzan." She told him briskly.

"Huh, you scoff, but I think the animals fight better when I'm around." Rex defended.

Wolf was keeping watch on the coastline. He started barking and snarling, actually retreating from the edge of the water. Rex ran over to see what creature even Wolf wouldn't attempt an attack of and understood why.

It was the three creatures who had attacked the lab over the water. They hovered completely under the water apart from the tip of their eel heads as they fired on a soundbeam tower. Eels crossed with sperm whales. Wolf couldn't have hurt them with the water protecting them. Rex hastily ordered up a couple of Crocobsters to combat them, but he was surprised to see how much the firing soundbeam towers bothered them. They surely must have high health at that size, but their defense can't have been anything special. By the time the Crocobster got to them Rex and the towers had accounted for two of the beasts, though Rex had to fire three times to overcome his. The Crocobster dived in, apparently unafraid at facing an enemy so much bigger than it was. With its hard lobster shell and powerful claws it didn't have much reason to be afraid, either. The eel-whales were one of the most powerful ranged attack combinations there was, but were all but defenseless in close combat.

"Lucy, I'm not getting any younger, here." Rexwas starting to get highly stressed by the constantly attacking enemies. "How much longer?"

"I'm working as fast as I can!" She promised.

Rhino-leopards attacked next, but they were met with a solid force of six Eeri. Rex was astounded. Rearing slightly into their back legs and tossing their eel heads they would release the crackling ranged attack that tripped, burnt and effectively cut down the enemy. These, he knew, would be what would get him to Julius's front door. With the exception of Wolf, who was unique in a different way, Rex knew this was the strongest creature he'd ever designed.

He was glad he had nine built when the elephant-turtles swam slowly towards them. Huge, tusked, and heavily defended, Rex realized these things could really dish out some damage. At least there were only two of them, he though, as the soundbeam towers opened fire, slowing them down even further. The Eeri fired the instant they came into range.

The Eeri blocked off the first one, pouring their electrical attack at in on all sides. Rex fired at it as well, but was dismayed to see his dart bounce harmlessly off the defensive turtle shell. But the Eeri had the first one under control. The second one advanced on the nearest soundbeam tower, literally crushing it under its elephant feet and dismantling it with long tusks. Rex fired and hit it in the neck, but his heaviest neurotoxin dart couldn't drop the heavy Sigma animal in one attempt. He kept Wolf back. The canine-feline cross had taken several injuries by now from the varied attacks and was panting heavily, his head drooping as he stood protectively at Rex's side.

A Crocobster sicced the elephant-turtle's side, keeping him busy while the Rex signalled the Eeri, now finished with the first one, to help. Adrenaline burned in Rex's veins. His hands clutched his rifle so hard his knuckles had gone white. But it was Lucy's voice that called to him, softening some of his tension.

"Rex?"

With the fall of the second elephant-turtle there were no more animals in sight so Rex put the rifle back in his holster and ran up as she appeared from the lab. "What's wrong?"

"Well. I think I found the problem. This isn't possible Rex!" He realized how worked up she was from her tone and reached out to touch her shoulder. He found this had a calming effect on him, too. "Lucy, what is it?"

"The primary fuses for the combiner relays are completely shot."

She may as well have been speaking Latin for all Rex understood of that sentence. "So?"

"Without those relays, we shouldn't be able to control any animals." Lucy explained. Rex shook his head firmly. "You must have made some sort of mistake. Lucy. I've been controlling the animals just fine."

"There's no mistake, Rex. The lab isn't controlling the animals. Somehow, you must be controlling them directly. Rex, I don't know how this is possible." She was staring at him like he'd just stepped off of a UFO. Rex felt a little uncomfortable. "Me either, but let's not look a gift horse in the mouth, Lucy. We need to get out of here. Is the lab prepped?"

"It's ready." Lucy has transferred her concerned gaze on Wolf, who was still bleeding in several places. The injury on Rex's arm seemed to have clotted for the moment though - at least it wasn't bleeding anymore. Rex put his uninjured arm around the battle-weary Wolf and helped him up onto the lab's platform.

"Then let's go."


	19. Mouth of the Beast, Part 2

_**Impossible Creatures: Chapter Nine, Part Two:**_ **Mouth of the Beast**

The lab touched down on the opposite side of the island, in a much more protected spot this time. They were higher above the water level, with towering rock pillars on two sides and a good view of the surrounding land. It was blindingly hot, the air dry and harsh. There was a slight sea-breeze, but it wasn't enough to affect the temperature of the desert island. With each step on the dusty earth a little puff of sand was raised behind them.

Rex set the henchman to work straight away. He wanted the gyrocopter to build soundbeam towers on the higher ground, and a few behind the base, as well. He and Lucy started setting up the creature chamber. Wolf, still very weary after his prior battles, lay down a short distance away and put his head on his paws. Lucy had let Rex fly the lab to the new location while she patched the canine hybrid a little. She'd had to tear up a bedsheet to make a bandage big enough to bind up his bleeding leg, and he still looked rather ragged, having lost a few patches of fur in the electric attacks. Rex's arm was already healing swiftly, and he could barely feel the bite he'd received on the ankle from the coyote-ant.

"Great. Whoever attacked us will have no idea we changed locations. We should be able to locate their base and take 'em out."

"Why don't we just leave?" Asked Lucy, who was wary of her precious lab being damaged after it had just been repaired.

"Because it could be Julius." Rex pointed out. "We can't take a chance on letting him escape."

"If it is Julius, you can bet he's brought some powerful creatures with him." Lucy pointed out as they finished the chamber. Rex considered her warning. "You're right." He started producing a string of Eeri. "But I have an idea. Keep building those and Crobosters until I get back. Hey, you, I need to borrow that gyrocoper."

* * *

Rex was back in a short while, smiling in a secretive fashion. He didn't explain to Lucy where he's been, just went to check on Wolf. Nine Eeri and a pair of Crocobsters were ready and waiting, and he waved them over. Lucy stuck her head out one of the lab windows. "You're not going to attack what may be Julius's base with so few creatures, are you?"

Rex was stopping Wolf from getting to his feet. He knelt down to pat him on the head. "You're going to sit this one out, big guy. I need you healthy again, not running into trouble like this." Wolf huffed, but remaining lying down. Rex straightened up and smiled at Lucy. "Don't worry, Lucy, I have a plan. Keep building creatures and send them down to me, okay?"

"Rex-!" But he was already gone, jogging just behind as the quicker creatures trotted ahead.

Rex made his way down a sand bar until the creatures reached a rocky hill, at the foot of which was a generator, two anti-air towers and one soundbeam. The Eeri opened fire - from two directions. Rex had made a short flight around the edge of the island to get the Eeri and Cocobsters guarding their crash spot organized. He had sent them up the island to wait until he approached the base form the opposite direction. In this way he planned to ambush the mystery base before they had a chance to get established. It had worked well in bringing down the brother's bases back on Velika's island.

He was pleased with how quickly the Eeri destroyed the enemy structures. Usually ranged attackers showed their greatest strength against other creatures, but the Eeri's powerful electrical charges brought down the soundbeam tower before the Crocobsters could reach it. Gathering both halves of his army together, Rex ordered them east into the hills, where a set of six soundbeam towers marked the main entrance to the base.

A small army of enemy creatures raced out to greet them. Rex wasn't worried about the spitting giraffes, as despite their poison they couldn't stand up to his strong creatures well. But a larger, brightly orange mottled frog and bull hybrid _did_ worry him. He soon realized they were tough and had high health, with a powerful ranged tongue attack. His Eeri fanned out to return fire, while the Cocobsters started tearing down bramble fences to get into the base and at the soundbeam towers beyond. Rex fired darts overhead, thinking how odd it was to be participating in a battle without Wolf at his side, dashing in to bite and claw an enemy before skipping on to the next. Still, it was better Wolf had the chance to recover fully before he went tearing off into battle. Now larger creatures had come into play he ran the very real risk of having his smaller, lighter figured damaged by something substantially stronger than he was. Rex tried to push the worry to the corner of his mind and focus on the task at hand.

Though the bull-frogs were durable the base had only had time to build a handful of them. Rex had been right - it wasn't yet enough of a stronghold to fend them off successfully.

They spilled inside the base. Rex set the crocobsters on the two visible creature chambers, and the Eeri on the soundbeam towers further in. The lab was close by, standing in the middle of the base. They were suffering a few casualties from the profusion of soundbeam towers dotted around the base, but they were steadily being pulled down Lucy sent fresh creatures down form their second base, boosting their numbers back up. Once every tower and chamber had fallen, Rex called them all to attack the lab.

From behind one of the rocky outcrops of the hill, a heavy, well-designed gyrocopter buzzed out. Rex and Lucy ran up along the nearby flat stretch of rock to watch it lift off, Wolf limping determinedly behind them. Rex recognized the solid figure sitting in the single chair, one he hadn't seen since all of this started.

"Don't think this is over, Mr Chance!" Growled Julius, hovering over the ruins of his base. Wolf snarled, as if he wished he were well enough to try a leap at the copter. Before he could attempt it Julius turned and flew away. Rex narrowed his eyes.

"Oh, I _don't_ Julius. Not by a long shot."

"Rex, we still don't know how you're controlling the animals." Lucy protested as he turned and started back for the lab. Rex had never been less worried about anything. The Eeri and the Crocobsters seemed betted tuned into him and his directions than any before them. He gestured after Julius. "There's no time, Lucy. After him!"


	20. Invasion, Part 1

_**Impossible Creatures, Chapter Ten, Part One**_**: Invasion**

**"One needs to be slow to learn convictions, but once learned, they must be defended against the greatest of odds." - Mahatma Gandhi**

_From the journal of Rex Chance_

_June 25th, 1937_

_I had another strange dream last night - a deafening blast, knocking me to the ground, catastrophic destruction, trees flattened for miles around... someone lying in the snow, my father... running to them. _

_Something horrible has happened somewhere in my past. This Sigma thing is at the heart of it. I needed to stop Julius, but once this whole ordeal is over, this technology must be destroyed. It's too much power to remain in the hands of normal men. _

Rex stopped writing. He was sitting on the outside platform while Lucy flew the lab. A strong breeze, partly created by the motion of the lab, ruffled his hair. He looked down at the furry figure sleeping beside him. Wolf was part of the Sigma technology. Rex's heart sank. How could he even think about destroying the power that created - and kept - Wolf alive? But still... he thought about the Sigma creatures and how powerful many of them were. What might Julius do if he released them in a city? On innocent people?

Rex winced and closed his journal abrubptly. Sighing, he lay down and rested his head on Wolf's shoulder. Best get some rest while he could - he couldn't dwell on such depressing thoughts for much longer. The hybrid stirred slightly, and curled a foreleg around to drape over his beloved human.

* * *

**Isla Pario**

**Later that same day [June 25th]**

Julius landed his gyrocoper in the middle of a bustling production facility. Behind him a new, slimline version of Lucy's mobile lab emerged from a factory warehouse.

"Oh, Mr Julius!" A man emerged from the warehouse, but calling him a man might have been a bit of a stretch. He was badly hunched forward, chalky white, and moved with a shuffling, shamble of a gait. "You're back so soon, have you... have you _captured_ the_ subject_?"

"I have not. But he won't be far behind."

A look of alarm entered the pale, almost transparent eyes. "He's coming here? But what about--"

"Don't worry. I have something special planned for Mr. Chance."

* * *

"This is the island Julius made off to." Lucy landed at the bottom of a steep cliff, open only to the east. It would be easy to defend, but she wrinkled her nose at the sight of orange sand and rocks. Lucy disliked desert islands.

"How do you know?" Rex asked, jumping down from the platform behind her.

"I'm sure of it. He calls it Isla Pario. I've often heard him mention it in the past."

"Pario is Latin or 'make' or 'produce' or something like that. Rex frowned, trying to recall his lessons from school. As he remembered it he hadn't been the best student at Latin. "Maybe Julius has some sort of production facility set up here?"

"If so, it must be in the large, flat area towards the center of the island. Let's check it out!"

After half a day's rest while travelling Wolf was refreshed enough to come with them. The last member of the search team was Lucy's little pet Frupine, who was, as usual, perching on her shoulder. The gyrocopter henchman remained behind to set up base. He had reported two of his fellows would be joining them shortly.

The land was laid out almost in a full S-bend, growing higher as they went. They scaled a shallow slope and crouched at its apex, looking down into the center of the island. Wolf flattened his ears and rumbled uneasily.

It was a production facility, all right. Two huge warehouses with train-tracks running in front of them each had a freshly-constructed lab sitting right outside. Two more were parked nearby. There was a solid concrete fence around the perimeter, but with frequent gaps bordered by soundbeam towers. Huge elephant-hornets hovered overhead, keeping watch.

"Look at all those mobile labs down there! They look like a model more advanced than ours, but I didn't know Julius was even working on a mobile version of the Sigma technology. But what would Julius need with so many labs? It's enough to wage a war!"

Rex took Lucy by the elbow and pulled her back down a hill a little further,out of sight of the base. "I think you just answered your own question." He said grimly. "Is this the only place Julius could manufacture these things?"

"He's got to have other facilities. He owns a dozen railroads: Reading, B & O, Short line... a bunch. He could hide the fabrication of these things all over the world. But why?"

Rex was more interested in the **what** than the _why_. It was exactly the fear he'd written about earlier in the morning... Julius was planning something very far-reaching. "Well, we'll have to catch him to find out. Come on, let's get back to base." Wolf followed gladly, still rumbling an uneasy growl deep in his chest.

Down in the base itself, Julius gave the order. All four bases lifted off the ground.

"He may be able to defeat one of my bases, but he'll never be able to defeat all the labs this factory can produce!" Gloated Julius. It was a sure-fire plan. Rex Chance was doomed!

Rex and Lucy were nearly back to base when Wolf started snarling. He reared up onto his hindlegs, swiping an angry paw at the sky. Rex, realizing the direction of Wolf's agitation, scanned the horizon. He saw two labs heading in different directions, and he was sure he heard the engine of a third. Which meant it was likely all four labs had been dispatched to attack them, Rex surmised.

"Rex, we need to destroy that factory." Lucy told him urgently, and Rex nodded. "I agree, kiddo, but we're going to have to take out a few of those labs first before they get their roots stuck in too deep, otherwise we're going to find ourselves up to our back pockets in enemy creatures."

"At least we have a head start." They had arrived back at their base to find the henchman had set it up and started collecting coal. Rex ran for the creature chamber. "We need some Eeri."

Seven of them and two Crocobsters later, he and Wolf struck out to locate the nearest base, with strict orders to Lucy to send any and everything she created straight up to them as soon as it left the chamber, keeping a trio of Eeri for defense. They had soundbeam and anti-air towers around the base, but Rex knew this island was large. He didn't want to risk anything slipping past him while he was distracted taking out a base.

A dog-sized trio of mantis-ants met them on the way. They might have been vicious little insects but the Eeri filled them with electricity before they even got near enough for a counter-attack. Camel-rats didn't slow them down either. Rex, remember what a vicious little cross the ant had been with the coyotes of the previous island, spied one of the bugs on a rock and collected a careful sample. It was a large bull-ant, and it showed its gratitude at being collect by biting Rex on the thumb.

The first base was just a stone-throw up from their own base. Rex spied all of two soundbeam towers and a creature chamber on the side of the base nearest to him. He directed the Crocobsters to a tower each and they crawled forward eagerly. Rex then had the Eeri open fire on the chamber. He and Wolf stood back calmly, watching for any new creatures. Rex was confident they'd have this base taken of with a few minutes. Their head start in organizing the base would pay off.

A couple of dragonfly-lions from a different base swooped in, but their light defense let the Eeri dispatch of them swiftly. The Cocobsters then assaulted the lab. Apart form the the chamber and the two towers, this base hadn't had time to build anything else, creatures included.

Rex paused only to gather up the new animals Lucy had sent up before they continued. He was determined to defeat as many of the labs as he could before they got the opportunity to build an army to rival this own. Speed was the only defense they had in this. Rex spotted a bull on the way and added another sample to their collection.

The second base had built a small army. Tiger-mantis and armadillo-rats flocked around his army, but with a fresh creature arriving every minute or so, Rex wasn't particularly worried. He had fifteen Eeri by this time and he spread them throughout the base, firing on the enemies, while the Cocobsters got to work on the buildings. A couple of chimp-giraffes arrived from a base further on. Rex shot two with his neurotoxin darts. Wolf accounted for a pair more, darting skillfully aside from the rocks they hurled.

Apparently this base had focused on creatures instead of base defenses - there wasn't a single soundbeam tower to trip them up. Once the enemy creatures were killed nothing protected the vulnerable lab. "Just destroying the second lab, Lucy." He reported. Her tone glowed as she radioed back. "Great work, Rex!" He felt alive with pride. They were going to_ win _this.


	21. Invasion, Part 2

_**Impossible Creatures, Chapter Ten, Part Two**_**: Invasion**

After the second lab fell they were slowed by a group of komodo-lionesses. Rex, knowing the komodo dragons could regenerate, was ruthless in dealing with them. Every last one was pounded into the dirt before they continued, their ranks buoyed by ever-arriving new creatures. Scorpion-eagles dived on them just a few paces after they set out but the Eeri stood firm, even when the scorpion pincers tore into their rough hides, continuing to fire their electric charges skyward. Rex had never felt so unstoppable. As they charged up a small hill and found more komodo-lionesses waiting Rex roared a wordless challenge at them. Wolf added his voice with a short, fierce howl, and man and beast led the Crocobsters in a charge. Rex had forgotten all about his rifle. Caught up in the heat of battle he had reverted to something as wild as Wolf was at heart. He dodged as one of the lizard hybrids swiped with lion claws. He felt the breeze of it whistle past his nose. Leaping forward like a pouncing tiger, he slammed his clenched fist down on the creature's head. It had the komodo body, which was as long as Wolf form nose to tail, but also the narrow, unprotected lizard head. Rex's incredible punch fractured the beast's skull and it fell back, stunned and thoroughly unworthy for battle. Acting completely on instinct he threw himself at a second monster. It snapped at him but the reptilian head was too slow. Rex landed on its back, locked his left arm around the long neck and yanked upward. Neck broken, it died instantly. Eyes wild, Rex turned to find another creature to attack. Slowly, his senses returned to him. The enemy creatures had all been eliminated. Rex felt slightly puzzled. The battle seemed to have passed in the blink of an eye, spinning by framed with the brilliantly coloured attacks of the Eeri.

"What just happened?" He asked Wolf, who simply looked at him as if nothing unusual had happened. Impatiently, he gave the man's hand a nudge. Rex scratched the back of his head. "Ok, you're right. We'll analyze this later - let's find the third base."

It was just down the other side of the hill. Rex knew they were getting close to the main factory base now - the fourth lab must have landed somewhere on the central western part of the island. Komodo-scorpions, a cross Rex didn't at all like, charged out flaked by several air units. He didn't even have to tell the Eeri to fire up and the Crocobsters to charge in. There were frog-armadillos around the chambers that had good defense but not a great deal of health. Rex, keeping his head for this battle, stood behind the Eeri firing neurotoxin darts. The creatures of the third base put up a good fight, but Rex had too many for them to have much hope.

Lucy was monitoring on the radio and heard the shattering sound of the third lab caving in. "Another lab down! That should make our job easier!"

"How you going down there?" Rex was still slightly weirded out by his feral rage and felt as if he needed to hear Lucy's reasonable, reassuring voice.

"We're being attacked from the air, by creatures coming from the direction of the west coast. But anti-air towers are taking care of them, but I'm repairing them after each attack."

"Good, keep that up. I'm headed for the final base now. Keep building and sending creatures my way - I have a feeling we're going to need them when it's time to assault the factory."

"Will do. Be careful, Rex. Wolf, too."

The fourth base was on the western coast. Rex was unafraid, even though they had more time than the previous labs to build up defenses. He now had a score of Eeri and nine Crocobsters in his force. He had yet to see the army to take THAT down.

They took out the creature chamber, a generator, and the air chamber. Rex had just waved his army towards the lab when a large mob of chimp-giraffes attacked from the factory base. Rex pulled the Eeri out to defend them but left the Crocobsters at the lab.

"Strike four." He reported to Lucy. He could hear the delight in her reply and it brought a smile to his lips. "Great work, Rex!"

Wolf was standing on a nearby rock pile and barked twice for Rex's attention. Quickly he ran over.

Just down the hill was the south-west corner of the factory base. Rex stared at the imposing concrete wall and the huge buildings, bristling all around with soundbeam towers. The huge shapes of the elephant-hornets still hung overhead, wings beating steadily.

Rex rested his hand on Wolf's neck. "We go."

Turning to his army, he punched the air. " We **GOOOOOOO**!" He yelled, and as a group, they charged.

An rival army of chimp-giraffes, elephant-hornets, camel-sharks, and ground-based gorilla-hornets charged back.

Roars, screams, howls, groans and snarls broke out as the two forces met. Rex tried to concentrate on the more powerful elephant crosses and the annoying chimp-giraffes first. But his army was reduced by a third by the time they defeated the last enemy creature. Three nearby soundbeam towers had been taken down but with every few steps his creatures took, they came in range of more. Rex split up his six remaining Crocobsters to tear down every tower they could find. The Eeri he kept with he and Wolf, electrifying the nearest factory. On the train track in front of it was the backbone of yet another lab, and Rex saw another almost three-quarters built, at the next factory.

They had taken down around half the base when Wolf signalled an urgent alarm, barking until the sound turned into rippling snarls. Rex scanned the area and nearly fell over backwards as a dozen enemy creatures the size of bulldozers approached from the east side of the base.

Elephant-ants. It didn't seem like it would be a dangerous combination until one was right in front of you, waving tree-sized claws. Rex roared at the Crocobster to regroup. The Eeri fired. The giant beats barely flinched at the wave of electricity. The Crocobsters hit and kept the beasts away from the ranged attackers. Rex loaded up a huge neurotoxin dose and fired. It didn't penetrate the burnished ant exoskeleton. Rex cursed. He ordered every Eeri he had to concentrate on one elephant-ant until it was dead then move on to the next.

He realized this group must have been sent down to the east to attack their base. When Julius realized Rex had already defeated all four of his labs and was attacking the factory, he had ordered them to return home to defend them.

It was a tough battle. They won, but Rex never would have believed his mighty army could have been reduced to a mere four Eeri, a single Crorocbtser, and he and Wolf.

"Lucy, whatever you've got, send them now. We ran into some resistance."

"Coming right up." Rex knew, however, the new creatures would take a few minutes to reach them. He concentrated on the final creature chamber and breathed a sigh of relief when they destroyed it before it could create another giant ant. An air chamber produced one of the hornet-elephants but between Rex and the Eeri it didn't amount to much. They started in on the air chamber. By the time that was taken down the new creatures had arrived and Rex started to feel confident again.

Nothing else in the base gave them much trouble. A relatively healthy Crocobster could easily dismantle a soundbeam tower on its own, and there were no more production structures still standing. For this Rex was thankful. He had never come so close to loosing before. The sun had lowered nearly to the ocean now and darkness was falling rapidly.

As they ripped into the second factory, the lab parked outside, still obviously unfinished, powered up and started along the train track. It managed to lift around ten feet into the air, uneven fans groaning and whining horribly. Then flames erupted from the left front fan and just as it got over the ocean, the lab nose-dived. There was a mighty splash and a lot of hissing as the fire was put out by the ocean waves.

Julius, standing on a plateau overlooking his factor, was outraged. "They destroyed my factory!" He cried in anguish. How **had** his brilliant plan gone so wrong?

"What are you going to do now, Mr Julius?" The white-coated man shuffled up behind him. Julius turned to him.

"Why, I need you to hold them off. Dr Ganglion!" He told him, as if it were obvious. Ganglion looked decidedly anxious.

"But Mr Julius, I am a doctor, not a combined creature strategist!" He protested feebly. Julius brushed him off impatiently. "Oh, show some backbone, uh, man. Rex Chance may have won a battle or two, but you know as well as I that he's _already_ lost the war."


	22. Proof, Part 1

_**Impossible Creatures, Chapter Eleven, Part One: **_**Proof**

**"Usually, terrible things that are done with the excuse that progress requires them are not really progress at all, just terrible things." **

* * *

_From the Research diary of Dr Lucy Willing, _

_June 26th, 1937_

_Case profile - Dr Otis Ganglion_

_Ganglion is a veterinarian, but not out of any love for animals. He developed a bit of a name for himself creating all sorts of strange animal hoaxes that he peddled to freak shows across America. Somehow, he created the development of some specialized anti-toxins and healing agents, and the poor things actually survived his meddling._

_Julius brought him on about a year ago. I didn't know why, but now I do. He wanted someone sick enough to do the unethical experiments that Dr Chanikov refused to do. _

* * *

**Isla Mutatio **

**June 26th, 1937 **

Rex and Lucy stepped out of the lab onto the dusty orange earth. Lucy sighed. _Another_ desert island. The water was at their back and rocky hillsides ahead. She felt instantly thirsty as the remorseless sun beat down on the back of her neck. When she looked up even the sky seemed to be a dusty yellowish shade, a cast from the sun hanging so low in the sky. On her shoulder, the Frupine huffed and sprawled itself out, as if sunbathing.

"This island is called Isla Mutatio. Upton's head of research, Dr Otis Ganglion, runs a research center here that could hold valuable information." She told Rex. What they needed was directions to Julius's main island, and it was possible they would find that here.

Rex remained quiet for a moment. "I have a bad feeling about this, Lucy." He said quietly, and she looked at him sharply. Rex walked over to Wolf, who had lain down, panting in the heat, and ran his fingers through the rough wolf fur. "I haven't told you this, but I've been having strange dreams since I got here of a horrible accident. I can't explain it, but I've got a sense that the Sigma Technology is capable of far more than just combining genetic material. It's dangerous, Lucy. _Too_ dangerous."

"Rex, what are you saying?" She went after him to stand on Wolf's other side, and he stood up to look her in the eye. "I'm saying that after we stop Julius... I think we should destroy Sigma."

"Destroy Sigma!?" Lucy was horrified. "That's absurd! It could be a great help to mankind! It's my _life's work_, Rex, it's your _father's_ life's work! How could you even think of destroying it because of the evil of one man like Julius?"

"One man is all it takes Lucy." Rex was sombre. "Who knows what they've cooked up at this research center? We already know they've tried using the technology on humans."

"That's exactly my point, Rex. We _don't know_. We can't just assume the worst."

She was trying to reason with him, but Rex would not be swayed. "I think of these people, we can. It needs to end, Lucy." He swallowed and turned away. "Too many people have been hurt already."

Wolf gazed up at them as Rex turned and walked heavily away behind the lab. He hated to hear his humans argue. Lucy shook her head fiercely. "It's not true." She said to herself, crouching absently beside Wolf. "Ganglion wouldn't put people through the combiner, and I can't allow Rex to destroy Sigma. I've got to prove to him that the people on this island are alive and well!" She glanced towards the lab to check Rex was out of sight. She caught Wolf's cheeks firmly and gazed down into his cloudy eyes. "Don't alert him, Wolf. I have to do this. Stay here with him. Please." Wolf whined softly. Lucy patted him one last time, gave her Frupine on her shoulder a pat with her fingertip, and ran determinedly off towards the hills.

A short while later Rex rounded the side of the lab. He felt bad for upsetting Lucy. He couldn't blame her, after all. Her whole life was tied up in these islands, in this research.

"Lucy, I'm sorry, I just..." He paused. She wasn't there. "Lucy?" Panic crashed down on him like a falling lab. She'd _gone_! "**LUCY**?!"

Eyes furious, he rounded on Wolf, lying where he'd seen him last. "Wolf, did you let her go?" He demanded. "Why didn't you stop her? She can't go wandering about in the desert alone when she knows what kind of creatures could be lying in wait!"

Wolf flattened his ears and stared up at Rex with a small whine. Lucy had told him...

Rex cooled off a few degrees. "I'm sorry boy." He patted Wolf's head. "I shouldn't get upset at you, it isn't your fault. Help me get things set up - we've got to go after her."

He sorely missed Lucy in constructing the necessary buildings. They had established a routine and he missed her help with a dozen little things. Wolf followed him closely, not bearing him any ill-will for snapping at him. A praying mantis and a roaming lioness provided new samples, but Rex collected them half-heatedly. Worry clouded his thoughts and gnawed away at his insides. He worked out some of his tension when a roving group of rat-armadillos found their base. But after he and Wolf had taken care of them the worry flew straight back. He felt as if he'd tear himself apart with it. He was nearly moving on autopilot as an armadillo crawled by for him to collect.

It seemed like hours before Rex was ready to go. He'd had soundbeam towers built on the hills to the north to protect the main entrance to the base, and a couple at the rear as well, not forgetting the threat posed by ambhipious creatures. Six Eeri and a pair of Crocobsters were all he had the patience to wait for. They had to go and find Lucy!

Wolf had recovered from the Isla Purclsus battle and nudged Rex impatiently to get on his back. The pair of them led the other eight creatures away from the base, following Lucy's prints in the sandy orange ground. Wolf had her scent, as well, so even where she had crossed rocky ground, he was able to track her.

Four ant-frogs barely made a dent against Eeri hides. It was laughable to think the low health and defense creatures stood a chance against Eeri or Crocobsters.

North of their base, not far away, Rex followed Lucy's prints into a clearly deserted farm. Wolf followed a few steps behind, the rest of the army standing watchfully in a group.

"Where is she? What's she doing out her by herself? What the hell is she trying to prove?" Rex agonized. Wolf pushed his muzzle into his hand in a comforting manner. "The tracks lead right to this farm." Rex told the canine hybrid. "But no-one's been here for ages by the looks of it."

Wolf jerked around and snarled sharply. Running towards the west, a mantis-tiger and more ant-frogs could be seen.

"Looks like those creatures have picked up her trail as well." He said grimly to his army, signaling them to give chase. "And I'm pretty sure they ain't on a mission to deliver her flowers!"

Wolf caught up with the mantis-tiger first, sprang, and landed on its tail. He wisely backed up a bit when a pair of Eeri opened fire with electric charges, while the remainder stampeded on to catch the ant-frogs. Rex, jogging behind, fired his rifle on the run - and still hit the first of the fleeing enemies. Wolf took off after the other, sped past it, and dropped into a snarling crouch in its path. Before the uncertain ant-frog could decide weather to dodge or attack the necessity of choosing was removed as the Eeri thundered up.

Rex ruffled between Wolf's ears as he climbed back on. "That was a nice move, Wolf." He cocked an ear back in Rex's direction agreeably.

The trail indeed swung west. Then it veered slightly back to the south of the island, cutting between some small cliffs. They were deterred for a short while by some armadillo-eels that attacked from the north. Rex realized that there must be a base at the top of the island. The Eeri and the enemy exchanged electricity, but his Eeri had the health, size and range advantage.

Lucy's tracks led into a small dead-end surrounded on three sides by rock walls. Rex cast an uncertain glance over his shoulder. There was an obvious path to the north he suspected the enemy was using to reach them. He peered into the stony dead end. There were no creatures inside. He made a decision.

"Wolf, with me, the rest of you guard the start of that path there. We'll only be a minute."

As he approached the hollow he felt the hair on the back of his neck stand up. Something was wrong here. He looked at Wolf - his scruff bristled, too.

It was another small farm - another _deserted_ farm. Two huts beside the failed crops were completely empty. On one the door swung open creakily, on the other it had fallen off entirely. "Empty. I don't like the look of this one bit."

Wolf gave a sudden small wuff. Rex turned to look at him. He was crouched with his forepaws together, nose nearly touching the ground. Carefully, he started to scrape lightly at the sand using a sideways flick of his paw, keeping his claws in. Rex went closer. He made out a small, brown and green body lying just in front of Wolf's paws, half-covered with sand.

Rex's heart sank. He dived onto his knees in the sand and scooped the body up. It was Lucy's Frupine, hindlegs horribly crushed. Blood trickled from its belly, and half the porcupine quills on its shoulders had been torn away. Weakly, it tried to lift its little head. A forepaw clutched feebly at Rex's thumb. A tiny, coughing moan issued, and it drooped, becoming quite still. Right before Rex's eyes, the small weight of its body dissipated from his hands as the chamber re-absorbed the blueprint of the Frupine.

"Oh, no." Rex whispered, his hands still together as if he were still holding it, a smear of blood all that remained of the Frupine. Lucy never would have left her beloved little pet behind willingly, especially not injured and dying.

She must have been attacked.


	23. Proof, Part 2

_**Impossible Creatures, Chapter Eleven, Part Two:**_ **Proof**

"Wolf, see if you can find anything!" Rex told the wolf-cougar hybrid urgently. Wolf sprang into action and only sought for a moment before locating something on the sand and alerting Rex.

He knelt down, staring closely at the ground Wolf was sniffing.

Blood. Lucy had been hurt!

There were no more tracks - at least, not human ones. Rex could make out blurred scuff-marks in the sand leading northwards. Either enemy creatures had followed her... or she had been injured too much to walk for herself. His blood went cold at the thought, but he wasn't anywhere near giving up.

_If anyone had captured or hurt Lucy, he'd rip them apart. Slowly_.

They followed the new trail, heading up into a rockier area of the island. Rex kept a sharp eye out for soundbeam towers on the surrounding slopes, but the only thing to bar their way was a set of armadillo-eels that the Eeri seemed to hate with a particular passion. They weren't hard to overcome, even though their defense was high, but they did slow them down. Rex radioed for a little more backup, but nothing on the island could have kept him from pressing on. If Lucy was in trouble he would overturn every stone, search every corner and rip down every cliff with his bear hands if he had to.

They were at the coast of the north side of the island before the trail swung sideways into a little cove. The first Eeri in the formation was peppered by a pair of soundbeam towers and nearly a dozen armadillo-eels, and they took their first casualty. The narrow rock wall nearby prevented all the creatures from rushing in together, instead blocking one another off. Rex shoved in between them, felt the buffering attack of the towers, gritted his teeth, and ploughed on determinedly past a creature and an air chamber. The Crocobsters got through and set to work de-constructing the structures. Rex scanned the two fairly large huts tucked against the cliff. They were especially desolate, framed by bare dead trees with spiked branches pointing at the sky.

Wolf, after he matter-of-factly ripped the throat out of a newly-created armadillo-eel, loped over to join him. There was no sign of Lucy, though the small outpost base made Rex feel sure Lucy had been attacked, captured, and brought here. Obviously, she had been removed since then. Wolf nudged his arm.

"Looks like she's trying to find the villagers that lived on this island." The profusion of thatched huts in places she had stopped at wasn't lost on Rex. "But all these abandoned places... looks like she's outta luck. I've got to find her before she gets herself into more trouble than she can see out of!"

There was only one way in or out of the outpost base. The sand had been flattened by the heavy Eeri hooves and the dragging markings of the Crocobsters with their long scaly tails, but Wolf soon picked up a fresh trail leading almost directly east.

Rex frowned. The reinforcements he'd asked to be sent up to him should have caught them up by now. He wondered where they were. He got his answer as Wolf rushed forward to stand on the edge of a short but steep rocky outcrop leading down into an alcove. Soundbeam towers and a creature chamber were nestled within. There were a group of Eeri firing on the enemy at random. Rex quickly realized what had happened. His backup Eeri had stumbled upon the base and started attacking automatically, while the slower Crocobsters hadn't arrived yet. He could spy them trundling up from the south now.

One Eeri that had ventured a little too far into the small outpost was caught between both towers. He roared, swinging his blunt head from side to side in an effort to pick a target to attack. He stumbled as the double waves of sound assaulted him. The other Eeri were firing back on yet more armadillo-eels.

Wolf uttered a single deadly snarl and tensed for one of his incredible leaps. He stretched out his forepaws as he sailed through the air, hurtling downhill, and crashed into the nearer of the soundbeam towers. The impact of his body on the tower cased the entire thing to tilt alarmingly, the soundwaves going wild and kicking up spirals of sand. Rex lined the Eeri up on the hilltop to fire down at the second tower. Wolf hooked one forepaw around the top of a pole for balance, and with his free paw, claws out, ripped into the loudspeaker section. Wires and small parts went flying. It stopped firing and one of the tripod legs gave way. Calmly, Wolf waited until it fell close enough to the ground to make a short leap to safety.

Once the Crocobsters got there the creature chamber didn't hold up well. There was an air-chamber sitting precariously on a higher ledge the Eeri sent some electricity arcs up to deal with. The instant they were done Rex called them all together and back on the trail. Lucy might not have the time to waste.

They followed the scuffed marks to the eastern edge of the island, then back south. The sun had all but set by this point and twilight had fallen over the island, but had it had been pitch black Rex couldn't have been stopped.

The enemy base was marked by another air-chamber on a hill above. Again, the Eeri set to work, their bright electrical flashes lightning up the dim evening like lightning. Downhill Rex could see a line of soundbeam towers. Beyond that several enemy buildings, but past them... a large assortment of huts.

Rex holstered his rifle and patted Wolf's shoulder, a steely expression in his eyes. "Wolf, I'm going straight through. Lucy's down there, I can feel it. It might be best if you stay with the other creatures." He placed a hand on the nape of Wolf's neck to dismount. Impatiently, Wolf tossed his head, gathered his muscles, and sprang down into the base, Rex roaring at his army to follow.

The soundbeam towers hit them first, buffering them strongly. Rex felt as if small needles were striking him at speed, but he crouched lower on Wolf's back and clung on grimly. They flashed by an air-chamber. A huge scorpion-bull suddenly loomed ahead of them, snapping its pincers at Wolf. Digging his paws into the sand he threw himself to the side in an attempt to avoid the attack, but a huge claw caught a glancing blow to his shoulder. Rex was thrown clear and thumped ungracefully on his face into the sand. Behind him the Cocobosters roared their gruff cries as they attacked the soundbeam towers they'd passed. He could see Eeri energy crackling behind them, but they were not far enough into the base yet to assist the fallen man or Wolf.

WHAM.

Rex yelled in shock as a stinger the size of a wagon-wheel slammed violently into the sand right in front of his face. He actually felt scorpion exoskeleton brush his nose. He rolled just in the nick of time, as a giant pincer descended from above where he'd been lying. He grabbed for his dart gun - and found the holster empty.

Wolf hit the scorpion-bull from the side, his claws rattling loudly on the armoured back of the beast. Rex scrambled clear and leaped to his feet, but there wasn't a chance he was going to let Wolf face that thing alone.

He dived in, using the sticklike legs to scramble straight up the giant scorpion side. The only bull portion of it was the creature's head, the long bony horns somehow fitting on the deadly body.

Luckily for him the creature was focused on attacking Wolf at his left side, and was less worried about the human man - though at this point Rex didn't look awfully human. His teeth were bared like an angry dog, his eyes wild and unrecognizable as he was nearly thrown off, hands slipping in an attempt to grip the smooth exoskeleton. He kicked violently and there was a crack as his boot connected with a spindly leg, the central one on the right side. Following his instincts Rex reached down, grabbed the broken leg, and wrenched. It came away with a snap, and Rex swung it around. The foot end was more of a spike than anything. Without hesitation he plunged the leg point-first into the monster's neck. It died with a low of distress.

Rex's rush of rage and adrenaline faded when he saw Wolf lying under one still pincher. But his fears were quickly allayed as Wolf drew all four paws together and shoved the giant claw off of himself. He scrambled to his feet, one of his hindlegs hanging a little awkwardly. Rex could see a wound, but not a fatal one. He would see to Wolf just as soon as he'd found Lucy. She looked over his shoulder to check on his army. They had brought down nearly all the soundbeam towers at the entrance, and one creature chamber, but there was a second one that had produced a pair of scorpion-bulls that were going claw-to-claw with the Crocobsters.

Rex patted Wolf. "Don't try anything with that leg. Stay on guard here and make sure nothing comes downhill after me."

He ran for the village at the very bottom of the hill, beyond the reaches of the base. He nearly fell over in relief when he saw Lucy standing beside one of the huts. She was looking rather pale, with a long gash down one arm she'd wrapped a scrap of material around. There was a lone villager speaking to her. Rex approached, feeling only relief now he knew she was all right.

"Taken.. .all of my people taken... by the man in the white coast." The villager was whispering to Lucy, his expression defeated.

"Where are they?"

"Here... is where they rest."

"What do you mean here? There's nobody here, just you..." She trailed off, suddenly realizing what was beyond the nearby hut. Numerous mounds of earth and rock had been marked with wooden crosses, each hung with a stark bull skull.

A graveyard.

"Oh... oh _no_..." Lucy's expression twisted in horror.

"Lucy..." Rex stepped forward.

"Rex... oh my god, what have I_ done_? What was I a _part of_?" Tears shone in her green eyes and she stared at him as if begging him to wake her from a nightmare.

If he had been capable of it, he would have. "It's not your fault, Lucy."

"You were right, Rex." She whispered brokenly. "We need to put a stop to this. The experimentations, the research, even Sigma. We need to start with Ganglion."

"Lucy. Maybe you should calm down first. I don't want you to do something you'll regret later." He spoke slowly, still worried about her. She had wrapped both arms around herself in defense. Rex could see the material was spotted with blood from her gashed arm and he wanted to get her back to the safety of the lab.

"Ganglion took something I created - I _CREATED_ - and turned it into something horrible. I'm putting a stop to it." She vowed. Rex nodded briefly. He had opened his mouth to reply when a enemy creatures leaped, completely unexpected, from behind the hut. It was another scorpion-bull.

With a single swipe of his pincers it sent Lucy flying. Rex rounded on the beast, furious within an instant, and charged at it. He had killed one and he had every intention of killing another. From a great distance he thought he heard a wolf-howl, but his mind had switched into the feral state it had done so before. A kill-or-be-killed survival mode.

Rex dodged the claw that snapped towards them and pulled up before he got within range of the bull horns, but the stinging tail came into action, stabbing down violently. Rex was force to leap aside, nearer to the powerful pincers, to avoid the wicked stinger. There was a clacking behind him as the beast tried to grab him to pull him close and gore him with its bull-horns.

Wolf leaped through the air and crashed so hard into the scorpion-bull it was thrown sideways. Rex grunted painfully, falling to the sand yet again as a pincer clipped him on the back of the head, but luckily it hadn't actually cut him.

A terrific snarling set up from Wolf. He was snapping at the Scorpion legs nearest to him, but was forced to spring aside as the tail struck down at him. Rex saw the danger too late.

"Wolf, lookout!" He yelled desperately.

The scorpion-bull snaked a pincer around and closed it over Wolf's left hindleg, ripping him off the ground. The second pincer arced up, open wide in order to finish the smaller creature once and for all. Wolf swiped at the claw with his forepaws, but brave as he was his claws didn't piece the tough exoskeleton. Instead, the pincer snapped at his forelimbs. Blood was flying everywhere. The next thing Rex saw was his beloved Wolf being tossed into the air. The scorpion was toying with him. It caught Wolf cruelly in its pincers again on the way down. Wolf's snarling turned to a sharp, painful yelp. Over the pitiful sound came a grinding sound followed by the sharp clack of scorpion pincers.

Rex was up and running for them. As he scrambled up his hand found a solid branch, and he brandish this wildly as he charged. The scorpion dropped the maimed Wolf to defend itself but it hadn't seen the man until it was too late. Rex roared in wordless fury as he swung the branch at the bull-head.

It exploded on impact. Splinters struck Rex in the face, but he didn't feel them. The scorpion-bull had fallen soundlessly, killed by the brutal force behind the blow.

"Wolf!" Rex forgot his rage when he saw his pet lying in a dark pool of his own blood.

"Rex, is he all right?" Lucy had been slightly stunned when the creature had struck her aside, but she recovered to stumble over beside Rex. Her eyes widened with horror when she saw Wolf, lying feebly on his side. The blood was mainly coming from the poor stump of Wolf's right hindleg. The scorpion pincer had cut straight through the bone. Both his left legs hang limpy, without any motion, covered in awful, deep gashes and tears. His right forepaw, bleeding badly, scraped weakly at the sand. "Wolf..." She whispered her eyes filling with tears. She had been attacked and dragged off by enemy creatures at the second village, where her Frupine had died. But to see Wolf, so fearless, so indomitable, lying there dying... she couldn't bear it. She buried her head in Rex's shoulder with a sob.

Rex placed a hand on Wolf's neck. He felt the muscles spasm. His white eye were glassy with pain.

"Wolf." Rex's voice came out as little more than a croak. "Don't die."

Wolf whined softly and moved his muzzle towards Rex's knee. Moving with a sort of helpless fury, Rex ripped off his overcoat and used his belt to secure it around the bleeding stump of Wolf's leg. Behind them, the Eeri and Crorcobster who had finished taking down the base shifted nervously and grunted. Rex motioned a Crocobster over. He looked up at Lucy. "Are you all right?"

"Yes, I'm fine. Rex... what are you going to do?"

Rex positioned the Crocobster right beside Wolf. He lifted Wolf's shoulders onto the lobster back. "We're taking him back to base." Very, very carefully, he lifted his hind end. Wolf whimpered as he was moved, but with the single paw he could use he attempted to hang on to the Crocbster. Lucy observed this silently. Despite seeing Wolf try, she knew there wasn't any chance Wolf was going to survive these sorts of injuries. She was shocked he'd hung on this long. If they made it back to base it would be nothing short of a miracle.

But Wolf managed to surprise Lucy. Despite the time it took for them to make it back, Rex walking beside the Crocobster to help hold Wolf in place, and the amount of blood that ran down the lobster sides and dripped on the sand below, Wolf survived the trip back. It was dark by the time they got there. The henchman had set up a tent to the west of their base and were all snoring.

Rex laid Wolf on the lab's platform, where they could angle a strong light down for Lucy to check him over. Rex sat down in front, cradling Wolf's head gently in his arms. Occasionally he made an attempt to lick his master's hand, but his strength was obviously fading.

More for Rex's sake than because she thought it was really going to do any good, Lucy did what she could for Wolf. The severed limb was obviously the worst of his numerous injuries. Lucy could think of only one way to stop the awful bleeding. She glanced up at Rex. "I'm... going to have to cauterize this. You may have to keep him still."

As she heated up an instrument over the fire to do the job, Rex stroked the fur on Wolf's face. He could see him growing weaker by the minute. There had to be something he could do.

Wolf couldn't help but yelp as Lucy carried out her grisly task. But he made no move to escape or strike with his strongest paw.

Lucy finished and breathed a sigh of relief. At least that had slowed the worst of the bloodflow. She got to work with a needle on the deepest gashes. She then had to cut up every bedsheet she had in the lab to make enough bandages to bind his other three legs, using large gauze patches underneath.

"How does it look?" Rex asked as Lucy finally finished and sat back. She met his eye. "Not good, I'm afraid." She said sorrowfully. Wolf had fallen into a fitful doze, his head still on Rex's lap. "I've done what I can for him, but both his left legs are very badly damaged, Rex. I stitched up both skin and muscle on each where I could, but I don't think he'll ever be able to use either leg again, the injuries just go so deep. And there's the near guarantee of infection with any of these wounds. Honestly, Rex... I don't think he'll last the night." She couldn't lie to him. Rex hung his head. Gently, he lifted Wolf's large head so he could slide out from underneath. He stood up and walked to the edge of the platform, staring off into the distance.

Lucy gave Wolf a final pat then followed after him. She hesitated for a moment before reaching for his hand. His strong fingers gripped hers, then he slowly pulled her against his side, leaning his cheek on her hair. "All the times he's defended us..." Rex murmured. Lucy nodded silently. She remembered, too.

After a minute or two Rex drew Lucy's injured arm towards him for a better look. It wasn't bleeding anymore, and after the horrific injuries on Wolf's limbs it didn't seem so bad, but it was enough to cause Rex some worry. "Come on." He led her to the edge of the platform where she sat down. Lucy had boiled a pot of water to mix with disinfectant for Wolf which was still sitting nearly. Rex took a gauze pad from the first aid kit Lucy had open nearby, tipped a little disinfectant on it and sat down beside her to gently wash her wound.

"Rex... I feel like this is my fault..."

"It's not." He said at once. "We'd have still attacked that base and we would have still investigated that village, and that brute still would have attacked us. It's in Wolf's nature to protect us, you know that he would have done the same thing."

There wasn't anything Lucy could say to that. Now that her arm was clean Rex started to wrap a bandage around it. "What happened at that village, anyway? I... I found your Frupine. I'm sorry."

Lucy sighed. It seemed ironic they would each loose their pet on the same day. "A mantis-tiger attacked with a couple of ant-eels. The mantis was the one who did this to my arm trying to capture me. My plucky little Frupine of course tried to attack it, but it flattened the poor little thing with one swipe of its tiger paw. They dragged me to that little outpost where a henchman radioed the main base, and before I knew it they took me there. They left me behind the base, where the village was." Lucy couldn't help but flinch when she recalled all those graves. "There wasn't any way off that little stretch of land unless you walked right through the base."

Rex understood. "That's why the scorpion-bull was hiding behind that big hut. He must have been guarding that entrance." He realized. He placed the end of the bandage lengthwise down her arm, bound it twice more to hold it in place, and tucked the very end under the last flexed her fingers and gave him a fleeting smile, reaching up to gently brush his cheek with her fingertips. "Thankyou." She gazed into his deep, dark brown eyes for a long moment, and she could see the anguish in them. He sighed heavily and squeezed her hand briefly before standing. Lucy watched him head over to the creature chamber and pull up some blueprints. She knew he had to keep himself busy. It was amazing he didn't seem to feel tired. She couldn't say the same thing after her experiences that day. She shifted back on the platform so she could lean against the wall. Wolf's laboured breathing sounded in her ears as she drifted off to sleep.

Rex sorted absently through various blueprints, staring at the combiner screen but not really seeing anything on it. It was beyond him to be able to bear this. Wolf was lying over there, growing weaker by the second, and Rex couldn't do anything to help him.

He only paid attention when a new blueprint caught his eye. It was the lion he'd collected earlier.

Slowly, he turned his head to look at Wolf, his cougar-limbs torn and ruined. "Cougar... mountain lion.." He muttered to himself, naming an alternate name for the big cat. He looked back at the screen. Moving on autopilot he brought up the wolf to combine with the regular lion DNA. The creature on-screen had the body, limbs and tail of the lioness and the wolf head. Testing the lay of the land, Rex built one.

The soft discharge noise of the creature chamber didn't wake either Lucy or Wolf. Rex stared down at the wolf-lion. It didn't at all remind him of Wolf. And it was female, perhaps due to the sample of the lion being female. The wolf-lion eyed Rex for a moment, flicked her tufted tail, then trotted over to the Eeri herd. They were standing, but asleep. She made a single circuit of the little army then lay down on the far side of them.

Rex sighed. He didn't know what he was doing. He was grasping at straws. He reached out a hand to power down the chamber.

Before he could touch that control he stopped, hand outstretched. His palm tingled as he concentrated on the chamber. He wasn't touching it, but he could... _sense_ it. Rex closed his eyes. Beneath the outstretched palm he could tell where every control was. With an overwhelming rush of data Rex realized he seemed to be staring directly into the chamber itself, though his eyes were still closed. He could see the individual DNA stores, strands entwined in spirals, see how they fit together with each combination he had ever made.

Rex didn't know that every panel on the chamber was lighting up as he concentrated harder, seeking through the combinations of the creatures in his current army. He wasn't aware of anything around him anymore, he was so absorbed. The lab could have exploded and he wouldn't have reacted.

There. THAT was the DNA he needed! He reached out for it, comprehending every molecule of the perfect design. He knew exactly what he had to do.

Lucy's eyes shot open. A blinding light beamed out from the creature chamber, nearly blinding her. Eeri were tossing their heads and shifting uncertainly in the background. Squinting, she made out Rex's silhouette against the brilliant white light. He seemed to be right in the center of it.

"REX!"

The light disappeared, the darkness leaving Lucy blinking rapidly as her eyes tried to adjust. "Rex?" She called again, tentatively.

At the sound of her voice, Rex came out of his trance. He felt a little light-headed. His plan rushed back to him. He ran to the lab. Lucy looked profoundly relieved at his approach, but her face soon turned to confusion.

Wolf was gone from the platform.

The creature chamber discharged softly. Both Rex and Lucy spun around to face it.

Standing in front of the chamber braced on four sturdy, healthy lion legs was the wolf body, head and tail of a very familiar creature. Rex took one look into the shining white eyes and he knew. Lucy covered her mouth with her hand.

Wolf lifted his head and howled the fiercest, wildest, most victorious wolfsong any animal before him had ever sung.


	24. The Good Doctor, Part 1

_**Impossible Creatures, Chapter Twelve, Part One**_**: The Good Doctor**

**"It is inexcusable for scientists to torture animals; let them make their experiments on journalists and politicians." - Henrik Ibsen **

_From the Journal of Rex Chance_

_June 27th, 1937 _

_This desert heat is taking a heavy toll on the creatures, and on Lucy. Luckily it doesn't seem to affect me as much. In fact, I feel strange invigorated by it. _

_I've met all sorts of unsavoury characters in my time, but this Dr Ganglion sounds like a real sick twist. Sounds like we'll be doing the world a favour by taking him off-duty. Hope he doesn't mind that it's us making the house call. _

**Isla Fervesca**

**June 29th 1937 **

On a high point on the west of the island, Dr Ganglion stared in obvious excitement as a lab flew by and skirted around the edge of the coast. He watched it greedily. "Ooh, my precious pets!" He hissed, and a nearby camel-eel turned its head enquiringly. "The subject is almost here! This is just the opportunity I've been waiting for. I will have Mr Chance on my tables soon. And then, all his secrets will finally be mine!" Ganglion broke off in an utterly deranged giggle.

"Wooh. It's a hot one out here." Rex felt the desert heat the instant he and Lucy stepped from the lab. He gave his shirt collar a hug and re-adjusted the holster on his back. He'd found his rifle before leaving Isla Mutatio and replaced it in its holder.

"Hey, at least it's a dry heat." Lucy said optimistically. "That spineless toad Ganglion loves the desert because it's good for his rheumatism. But I think it's because there's lots of rocks for him to scuttle under. We root him out, destroy his base, and make sure he pays."

"You make it sound so easy." Rex joked. Lucy shook her head. "It won't be. Ganglion's knowledge of the Sigma technology is obviously thorough, so don't underestimate him."

"No problem. Wolf, coming for a scout?"

Wolf, with his new lion DNA, had a fer better health count than before. He was also bigger, with Rex's head about level with the line of his back. He loped over, affectionately nudged Rex off his feet, and headed around the edge of their latest base.

A small curved canyon with a coal pile was just behind their landing spot. The beech meandered up to the north and ended at the foot of a cliff. There were two entrances to the base, side by side, spaced between three rocky pillars. Wolf gazed out into the open land beyond these entrances. Rex could make out several soundbeam and an anti-air towers just from where he stood, all constructed high on hilltops and outcrops. This wouldn't be an easy terrain to maneuver through. As if agreeing, Wolf growled softly at the distant towers.

An idea formed in Rex's head when he saw the brambles growing around the foot of one of the rock pillars. He smiled and patted Wolf's shoulder (It was difficult now to reach his head or the top of his neck).

"Come on Wolf. Help me with this."

By the time Lucy came over to tell him the creature chamber was ready and she had the supportive research underway, Rex was also done with his bramble fences, a thick layer of them blocking off both entrances. He had wound them over a light structure of posts and poles so the sharp thorns would certainly help slow down attackers.

"Very impressive, Rex." Admired Lucy. "But I do have one question - how do we get our creatures out?"

"We don't. Not yet, anyway. Lucy, I need an air chamber. We're doing this one from the skies."

Rex knew that if his plan was to work he needed strong, hardly aerial units that could stand up to some punishment and take down buildings quickly. He meant to hit Ganglion's lab and cripple him, then it would be far easier to get through by land with a small force of Eeri and Crocobsters.

He quickly realized every winged creature had awful defense and relatively little health. Rex tried a few different combinations of winged animals with large ones and settled on the Vulteros, a vulture/rhino cross. It had a fairly average melee of 13, but with 300 health and 50 defense, they would certainly last well in combat situations.

He knew he wanted a lobster cross for the damage it could do to buildings with its pincers. Vultures were the only aerial unit with enough health to warrant combining it with the lobster, something he realized after he tried a lobster-eagle and dismissed it for it's low health. He returned to using the vulture. He named the resulting, well-armoured creature the Lobsure. It was smaller and far less unwieldy in the air then than Vulteros but Rex was mildly worried by the huge bald vulture-head. Regular vultures were ugly enough, let alone super-sized ones. He wished the eagle had had more health. At least they were a fair bit better-looking than the scavenger birds.

To complete his new aerial army he added a Vuleel, smaller and more fragile, but with an electric attack with a rating of 10. They would also be cheap and quick to produce, building his army numbers up faster. He started to do just that.

A group of camel-eels and mantis-frogs had tried to approach the brambles. Unfortunately for them there were now soundbeam towers behind behind the tough plant fences that started firing straight away. The enemy creatures milled around in fury trying to find a way through ,and the camel-eels fired at the towers of the top of the fence, but there were not enough of them to do a great deal of damage. The retreated, and Lucy jogged over to repair the damaged towers.

Rex was however was distracted. He was a little more worried about directing the new aerial units. There was no way he could go with him so he would have to give them strict instructions before he left. He wanted to clear the anti-air towers dotted over the landscape first, so his army would have a straight shot to the main base to take out the lab. He sent a small task-force of aerial animals out to do this, testing to see how well the group faced up to combat.

The first anti-air tower was near enough that Rex could watch the battle form their base. At first as the creatures dived on the tower he worried it was going to kill too many of his aerial army to be effective threats, but as the army wheeled around for a second pass, the damage was more severe than the first. The tower collapsed. Rex smiled. There was a pool of water ahead and when he squinted he could just make out a water chamber floating in it. The army headed towards that and he faint heard the sound of battle drifting over the water.

"The animals seem to respond much faster at the oasis." Rex observed.

"It's cooler. There's water. Who wouldn't?" Lucy pointed out with her usual reason.

With the water chamber and its assortment of small creatures destroyed, the air units flew onwards over the land to take out the towers. Once they had done so they would wait for reinforcements until they attacked the main base.

Once he had another score of the aerial beasts Rex nodded to Wolf. "They're ready." He told him seriously, and gave the army their orders. They were to concentrate on the lab fist then anti-air towers of creatures second.

Overhead they soared. Rex readied a small group of Eeri to come with him, waiting until half a dozen were created. He added a pair of Cocobsters as an afterthought.

It was a struggle to mount Wolf with his extra height. In the end Wolf simply lay down to let Rex climb on. They made a hole in the bramble fence, and led them outside.

Rex found a rat, a poison frog, a camel and a magnificent striped tiger to collect samples form as they threaded around hills and cliffs. He made a mental note to see what interesting combinations the tiger might make.

The hillsides around them were scattered with poles and debris from towers the aerial army had pulled down. Rex and the land-based army followed the second wave to the western side of the island where they joined the initial group. Together, the mob of flying Sigma animals headed for Ganglion's main base. Wolf went bounding up a nearby small hill so he and Rex could watch the attack. The more unwieldy creatures remained below.

Ganglion's lab was huge. It was a roughly oval-shaped facility painted white, split into two at its widest point, with a center entrance on either side. There were a large amount of anti-air towers dotted around it. Rex watched grimly, expecting the creatures to ignore the lab, turn on the towers and scatter into small bunches, making easier targets.

But they stayed true to his orders. Down on the lab they swooped. Rhino horns gouged, lobster claws snapped, beams of electricity flew. Rex held his breath. The anti-air towers lit up the area with their constant firing on his army. The smaller, weaker Vuleels were the obvious targets, and their numbers depleted rapidly. The bulky Vulteros held up well, but the more agile and dangerous Lobsures were doing most of the damage to the lab.

Around the lab groups of chameleon-armadillos and chimp-komodo dragons opened fire on the aerial units. The rocks thrown by the latter did very little good, since they weren't accurate enough on the whole to hit much of anything. Indeed most of the rocks pelted down on the expanse of the lab itself, helping Rex's army out. But the slender chamaeleon-armadillos were a good ranged unit and they were enough of them to start seriously damaging the aerial army. Rex reached for his radio.

"Build more air units, Lucy, and send them this way. We're going to need them." He watched his final few Vulteros circling and checked on the status of the lab. They had certainly hurt it, he realized. There were numerous cracks and dents in the walls and a section was leaning slightly, while worried henchman scuttled around pointing at the damage. Rex smiled knowingly. His second wave would be here before they could repair that massive concrete structure. He'd have them yet.


	25. The Good Doctor, Part 2

_**Impossible Creatures, Chapter Twelve, Part Two**_**: The Good Doctor**

While Rex was waiting the chimp-dragons that had been defending their base attacked his little force. They had no trouble taking them down, though some of the Eeri took minor injuries from flung rocks and stones. Rex hoped that meant the chameleon-armadillos were on their way, too, leaving the base more unprotected this time around for the coming attack.

Wolf howled to their second army as they approached, the downdraft from so many wingbeats nearly pushing them to the ground as they passed overhead. "Bring down that lab!" Shouted Rex, and he watched anxiously as they crested the hill before the base.

There wasn't an enemy creature in sight. Roaring, bellowing and grunting, the creatures folded their wings and dived, bravely bearing the crackle of static around them as the anti-air opened fired upon them in return. But Rex could see they were going to finish the job. Fires erupted from two large canisters in the lab's center. Plaster, cement and entire sections of wall fell away. They'd done it!

The remaining aerial creatures turned on the anti-air towers, taking obvious pleasure in attacking them. Wolf growled and nudged at Rex. Rex nodded. "You're right, Wolf. About time we joined in the fun." Wolf made his way quickly down the hill, his claws extended to help him balance. The Eeri and Crocobsters shifted eagerly around him. "Let's go!" Rex called to them, and they sped towards the base. Rex radioed Lucy to join them, knowing she wanted a confrontation with Ganglion as much as he did.

They nearly collided with the force of chameleon-armadillos that had decimated the first aerial assault. Charged for battle the nine creatures and Rex ripped into the two dozen enemy animals. Wolf's lion-claws could certainly deal an admirable amount of damage, and his wolf bite seemed more powerful than before. He darted everywhere, flinging the lighter enemy animals aside, dodging the tongue attacks with supreme skill. The Eeri sent static charges into their ranks and the Crocobsters lumbered into the fray, pincers and crocodile-grins bared. The instant the last of them died they were pounding onward once again, towards the base. Lucy caught up with them and followed on foot at a much more sedate pace.

By the time they'd gotten there a great deal of the anti-air and soundbeam towers had been demolished. The aerial creatures had suffered though - there was a single Vulteros flanked by a pair of Lobsure still flying. Rex, Wolf and Lucy left their small force of eight at the entrance helping take care of the last few soundbeam towers and pressed on into the center of the base unchallenged. As they passed a creature chamber discharged a chameleon-armadillo. Rex and Wolf threw themselves at it. Trapped in close-combat, between two equally ferice fighters, it stood no chance. Rex shook his arm where the creature had managed to take a snap at him. It hadn't held on for very long, though.

"Rex, have you noticed that any creature that attacks you seems to take damage?" questioned Lucy.

"Hmf. I'm usually thinking about not being attacked again. But come to think about it, I was once bitten by a dog and the poor thing was sick for a week."

"Strange. It's almost like your skin is toxic." Lucy said dryly. "I know your hygiene leaves something to be desired so maybe whatever you're not doing is working."

Rex let that comment slide. Suddenly he put out a hand to stop Lucy and they both drew closer to the ruined side of the lab.

Ganglion appeared around a corner, emerging from the center entrance. Terrified, he scuttled one way then the other, unsure of where to go. He hadn't yet noticed the two humans and the hybrid wolf-lion standing against the curve of the other side of the lab.

Wolf slipped soundlessly inside without being seen. He pricked his sharp ears at an open window with no glass just above his head, judging Ganglion's position by the sound of his footsteps. He was directly opposite Wolf, on the outside to where the canine-feline hybrid stood. Wolf planted his paws firmly, and braced his shoulder against the rickety wall.

Ganglion was frantically trying to come up with a plan. He could hear the creatures at the entrance of his base and knew it was no use trying to escape that way. There was no other way off this part of the island, it had been chosen to be easily defendable with the one entry or exit point by land. All of a sudden a shadow fell over Ganglion's head. He turned to see a solid expanse of wall falling towards him.

"AIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII! He screamed, falling into the fetal position as it crashed to the ground. Several chunks fractured off at the impact.

A beat passed.

Ganglion's voice came from the rubble. "Crushed like a bug. Me, the greatest creator of animals since the almighty. Oh, my back! Oh, morphine... I need... morphine..."

"Come on, get up." Rex's very unamused face loomed over him. Ganglion, curled up the window alcove, stirred. "Huh? Me? What?" He extended his arms, amazed to find himself unhurt. He quickly realized that might be a passing state.

"What should we do with him?" Lucy looked over Rex's shoulder, her eyes unforgiving. Wolf's face was next to appear. His teeth were bared. Ganglion panicked. "Oh please, mercy!" He begged, scrambling to his feet. "I'm just a simple scientist!" He backed away nervously, until he hit a part of the wall still standing.

"Without a lab he's harmless enough . We can use him to..." Rex stopped, frowned. "Hn. Hold on..."

"What is it?" Lucy asked, who had learn enough by now to trust Rex's instincts. Wolf started growling as well, adding to her unease. Rex frowned, striding boldly to the entrance of the base to look inside. The ruined, flaming wreck was empty. "Something is wrong. I can sense it." He told Lucy.

Wolf emitted the most ferocious snarl they'd ever heard from him. A second later it was drowned out. Vaulting over the cliff from the shore came a gorilla. But it was a gorilla that made the twenty-foot climb in a single swing of one tree-sized arm, a gorilla that dwarfed the huge lab they'd destroyed, a gorilla, Rex realized when he saw the tail swinging behind it, large enough to crush their own lab with one blow, that had been crossed with a sperm whale. His powerful roar drowned out every other noise.

Rex never could have believed any creature the size of that behemoth could move so quickly. With one swipe of its giant fist it grabbed Lucy. It lifted her easily - the hand was bigger than she was. Lucy took one look at the size of the bared teeth as the gorilla-whale growled, and unsurprisingly she screamed. And screamed. The creature held her up to his face and roared again.

"_REX! HELP_!"

Rex grabbed his rifle. Wolf went springing forward, dashed along a fallen section of wall and sprang. Rex fired his strongest neorotoxin dart. It stick into the gorilla-whale's chest. The beast didn't so much as twitch. It did glance down as Wolf hit his forearm and dug twenty claws and a mouthful of teeth into him. Casually, the way one might wave off a mosquito, his flicked out its arm and sent Wolf flying. Over the cliff. Rex heard the splash as he the water. The mighty gorilla-whale turned away from the insignificant bugs upon the ground, carrying a screaming Lucy in his fist. Jumping back down the cliff, right over the top of Wolf who had emerged dripping and was climbing back up, he entered the water. The amazingly strong whale flukes churned up sand and sea as he struck out to the north, keeping the hand with Lucy in it above the surface.

A low growl escaped Rex as he turned on Ganglion. With one hand he grabbed him around the neck and smashed his body into the wall behind them. Cracks appeared around the scientist's profile. He nearly left an imprint in the wall.

"What the hell was that thing?" Rex demanded.

"Please, mercy!" Ganglion wheezed. Rex's large hand was around his throat. "That was one of Julius' favourite pets. He calls him 'The King'." He croaked.

"All right, you want mercy?" barked Rex, his eyes burning with anger. He grabbed Ganglion's collar tightly in both hands and slammed him violently into the wall again, this time up higher, so that he was no longer standing on the ground. Ganglion's legs kicked feebly. A wet Wolf reached them, unhurt for his short flight and swim. He reared up onto his hindlegs, placed his forepaws against the wall beside Ganglion's face, and leveled his white stare at the man.

"_Take me to Julius_." Rex growled.

"No... he'll kill me..." Choked the scientist. Wolf extended the claws on his left paw and ranked them sharply down Ganglion's arm. He screamed.

"We'll do worse." There was aboslutely no doubting the deadly serious threat in Rex's glare.


	26. The Gate, Part 1

_**Impossible Creatures, Chapter Thirteen, Part One**_**: The Gate**

**"The longest part of any journey is said to be the passing of the gate." - Marcus Terentius Varro**

_Dr Otis Ganglion_

_A Case Study _

_Dated June 30th 1937_

_Subject: Rex Chance _

_He is a prime physical specimen, with a sharp mind, as to be expected. He shows signs of extremely acute, almost inhumane perceptive abilities, his physical prowess, strength, and endurance are far beyond my expectations _

_I have not seen him sleep in the two days I have been with him - quite impressive._

_The most amazing thing is that the subject sees to be in denial about the full extent of his abilities, but it is my experience that people tend to cling to an ideal of normalcy, even remarkable people, in order to make their place within this world. This simply won't do. Rex Chance must learn who, or more accurately, __**what**__, he really is._

_His reaction to such a revelation would almost merit a separate case study in and of itself. _

**Isla Porta**

**June 30th 1937 **

Rex was glad of the flying lessons Lucy had given him. There wasn't any way on earth he would have let Ganglion fly Lucy's precious lab.

For a change Wolf was riding inside. He spent every minute watching Ganglion like a hawk, following him from one end of the train to another. Rex was glad of Wolf's watchful eye. He didn't trust Ganglion as far as he could've thrown the lab.

They approached a large, lush island from the west. While Rex was glad that the desert islands seemed to be behind him, he didn't like what he saw. The island was long, had a huge metal gate built in the middle, and was literally bristling with anti-air towers. To fly anywhere near it would be impossible.

The gate swung inwards, and a gyrocoper buzzed through.

"There, take the lab through that gate." Ganglion directed. Wolf growled at the order given from the scientist. Ganglion eyed him nervously.

"Hold onto your Bunsen burner!" exclaimed Rex, and he steered the lab towards the gate, full speed. They breezed over a small hillside and a sandbar. The doors of the gate were closing. Quickly.

"Aiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!" screeched Ganglion. "NOOOOOOOOOOO!"

There was no way the lab could have fit through the dwindling gap. Rex yanked the control stick, nearly clipping the gate as he pulled up sharply. He tightened his grip on the controls while Wolf dug his claws in for a hold. Ganglion went sliding down the sharply tilting floor, still wailing. Ignoring him, Rex turned the lab and flew back over to the hillside.

Landed safely, Rex and Wolf stared across the bay to the gate. The sandbar they'd flown over earlier connected their hillside with the main part of the island. In Rex's eye that was a positive thing - beside from aerial assaults this was a good place to defend from.

"Oh, very unfortunate." Commented Ganglion, having picked himself up and emerged from the lab. "Going through that gate is the only safe passage to Julius' main island."

Rex's patience was steadily wearing thin. "Can't we just fly around?!" He demanded. Julius had Lucy - again! The same itching, impatient energy as before was coursing through him again. Her safety was all to him that mattered. That, and smashing Julius into the ground.

"Oh no, Mr Julius has made it quite sure you cannot do that. There is a way to re-open the gate, though. An outpost on the other side of the island holds the gate controls."

"Let's get started." Rex thought it would do Ganglion a world of good to do a little manual labour.

"Ah-ah. There's one catch." warned the scientist.

Rex turned around slowly. His eyes narrowed. "I don't like catches." He growled.

"Regardless of your preferences the catch remains." Ganglion said, seeming slightly puzzled by Rex's statement. "Because of this island's critical location Julius uses it as a holding pen of sorts for his most powerful creatures. You should prepare yourself."

Rex glared darkly. "You me WE should prepare OURselves. I'm sure Julius's creatures will devour you as readily as they will me.

Clearly, Ganglion hadn't thought of this. "Oh, my..." Wolf shoved him hard, sending him sprawling, and trotted over to Rex to help set up the creature chamber.

When it was complete Rex spied a very large, narrow triangular fin in the bay beside him he dived in willingly, leaving Wolf to watch Ganglion, who was attempting to put up an anti-air tower. Wolf lay down to watch, growling every time Ganglion dropped a part or pole.

Rex swam up to the fin. It was an orca, a killer whale, the largest of the dolphins. Fearlessly, it turned its great head towards Rex. A sharp, music whistle engulfed him. Equally unafraid, Rex reached out underwater, patting the whale's nose. "Hey buddy. I have a favour to ask." Rex said softly.

Curiously, the whale poked its head above the surface of the ocean and regarded Rex with a small, intelligent brown eye. Rex held out a sample. There was something strange about this. He couldn't remember asking any animal for permission before.

The whale didn't seem to mind. Peacefully it let Rex collect the sample without being tranquilized, then turned and swam majestically away.

Rex swam quickly back to the sand bar and climbed onto the floatation boom of the new water chamber that had just been finished by a henchman. If he'd been in a laughing mood he might have been tempted by the sight on the shore. Wolf was following Ganglion like a shadow. He was trying to prop up the posts for a soundbeam tower on the lowest rocky outcrop to the sandbar. Ganglion was growing increasingly nervous by Wolf's close watch and kept casting glances over his shoulder, only to find himself eye-to-eye with the Sigma hybrid, gulp, and turn back to work.

Rex threw himself into getting the base prepared, trying not to think about Lucy too much. If he did he felt sure someone, probably Ganglion, was going to wind up getting badly hurt. He always felt more secure once two or three anti-air towers were up and a small herd of Eeri guarded the entrance, anyway.

After he'd finished he couldn't bear the idea of sitting still and he brought up the combiner to see if he could create some new blueprints. He loaded in the orca sample and immediately realized that its large size would make a perfect combination for something small, to boost the melee attributes. He studied the orca's statistics. Health was very impressive and there was a sonic ranged attack, but defense was very low.

Rex's eye landed on the lobster and he smiled humorlessly. Julius had giant creatures on this island? Well, maybe Rex should make a few himself.

The resulting Lorca had the entire body of the lobster with just the whale tail to aid in a swifter assault in the water. The tough exoskeleton provided a very high defense creature, with a whopping 758 health thanks to the orca outcross - and with the lobster's regenerative capabilities. Rex was tempted to let it have the sonic attack, but he had the faithful Eeri for his ranged attacker. Besides, with such high defense and health and the ability to repair damage, Rex had designed the perfect close combat creature - slow, due to its size, but as tough as a tank.

He also wanted to experiment with the tiger he's collected on the previous island. The chambers were still steadily building creatures so he had a little time yet.

He was curious about the ranged attack of the orca so in the end he placed the whale's head on the striped feline body to test it out. The Tiger Whale had less defence than the Lorcas, but almost as much health and as well as the sonic attack it had the tiger's long front claws to protect itself.

When the first Lorca and Tiger Whale were build Wolf loped over to investigate. He sniffed at the Lorca first, which was longer than the lab was. It merely blinked its short-sighted lobster eyes and barely seemed to know Wolf was there as it crouched placidly in the shallows, looking like a very large partially submerged submarine. Rex hoped it would wake up a little when it came time for battle.

Next Wolf approached the Tiger Whale, which whistled curiously as the much smaller beast wagged his tail in greeting. The Tiger Whale whistled in a even higher note and Wolf jumped up, placing his paws on the bigger hybrid's chest so he could sniff the orca head. He dropped back down after a moment and glanced at Rex, as if approving his designs. Rex suddenly felt very, very small beside the towering creature. It was just as long as the Lorca but a whole lot taller. Rex could have stood level under its belly without hitting his head.

Wolf alerted him a minute later and went speeding off to the western part of their island. The five Eeri, the Lorca and the Tiger Whale all followed him, naturally falling in behind what was now the smallest Sigma animal in Rex's army.

Rex was surprised to realize the western edge of the coast sheltered a small outpost. He barely had to raise his arm to wave his creatures towards the two soundbeam towers and the anti-air guarding it when they fell upon it. Rex was awed by the new whale hybrids. Their size lent them sheer brute strength and it was awesome to behold. The Lorca clicked its claws as if it were out for a stroll picking flowers, and a tower was simply decimated. The Tiger Whale, whose sonic attack was of little use on buildings, ran up to the air tower and reared up, swiping with the largest tiger paws anyone should ever hope to see. The Eeri were barely even needed as backup.

Rex was going to _enjoy_ tearing this island apart. Woe betide anyone who stood in the way of him getting to Lucy.

A half-doezen cheetah-lobsters all but turned tail and ran when they saw his army, but he Eeri were quick to attack and when the Tiger Whale blasted them with a sonic attack to slow them up, the Eeri were right on them. None escaped.

He got Ganglion to disable then rewire to relay fuses on the air chamber, generator and workshop so they became part of their own base. At length he sat Ganglion down to grill him about the layout of the island. The rocky cliff that ran right along the center and was heavily protected with towers. Trying to cross it would be madness. The gate outpost did have a smaller rocky hill bordering it but it wasn't nearly as large as the center cliffline. Rex decided his prior strategy had worked well and built more aerial units to make a surprise assault on the outpost.

Then Wolf barked for their attention, his body stiff as he stared along the sandbar. Rex drew in a sharp breath, and Ganglion beamed. "Fascinating. Julius has managed to create a beast of massive proportions. Truly impressive." He admired. There was a King-sized gorilla striding up towards the base with a sperm whale head. It made the Tiger Whale look small.

"Yeah, well I hope you feel the same way when it brings the lab down around our ears!" snapped Rex, ordering some more Eeri. He moved the Lorca to the forefront of the army. If he could keep it distracted the Eeri and the Tiger Whale could fire on it with their ranged attacks they stood a good chance of defeating it.

"Oh, don't worry, Mr Chance." Ganglion spoke over the steady thudding that filled their ears as the giant beast drew closer. "Mr Julius only has a limited number of those beasts."

Rex kept his eyes on the advancing monster. The Eeri tossed their heads in readiness. "Oh, that's comforting. _Now, charge_!"

The gorilla-whale stopped where it was and let its sonic attack rip. Wolf, in front of the Lorca, was bowled off his paws and rolled several times, landing in the shallows by the water chamber. The Lorca lumbered steadily forward though and snapped its pincers at the gorilla legs. Clenching one massive fist, the beast brought it down on one of the lobster's pincers, shattering the exoskeleton brutally. The Lorca renewed its attack with its remaining claw. Eeri roared, reared, and opened fire. Standing at their side the Tiger Whale used its own sonic attack. Wolf darted back in, dodged a giant fist that swung at him, and shot straight between the creature's legs. Eeri were pouring every scrap of electricity they had into the huge beast and it stumbled as it tried to see where Wolf had gone. The Lorca locked its pincer onto one ankle and started to pull backwards. Wolf clawed his way up the slightly bowed gorilla back and anchored himself on one of it's shoulders, snapping and worrying at its neck. With so many frenzied assaults, the monster lost its battle for balance and crashed onto the sand, making every structure in the base tremble. With apparent relief the Lorca crawled behind the rest of the creatures to lets its damaged claw slowly repair itself.

Wolf calmly jumped down from the body and trotted back to Rex, who patted him. "Good job, boy." He said softly. Wolf really wasn't afraid of any creature.

"After close observation of the giant creatures Julius is using here, I believe I have found a weakness." Ganglion told them. Rex snorted.

"Let me guess. They don't get along well at parties."

His sarcasm was lost on Ganglion. "Well, I wouldn't think so, but I don't see how that's a weakness. No, uh, you see, they are psychologically unstable."

Rex was unimpressed. "Hasn't seemed to stunt their growth."

"Oh no, but it does make them very hard to control. You see, Julius needs a special structure to amplify his lab's signature in order to maintain his power of the beasts."

"So... we take out that structure, and Julius looses his giant creatures." Rex looked over at his aerial units flying sedately in a circle. An idea began to form in his mind.

"Hold on Lucy." He murmured low enough that only Wolf would have been able to hear him. "I'm coming for you."


	27. The Gate, Part 2

_**Impossible Creatures, Chapter Thirteen, Part Two**_**: The Gate**

Rex paid little attention to Ganglion as he wandered about the base. His concentration was on building up his aerial army of Lobture and Vulteros. They were also being attacked by eagle-orcas from the air, and he had to oversee the setup for some more anti-air towers to protect them.

Once he had three dozen air creatures, which he hoped would be enough, he gathered both air and ground forces. The aerial units he sent flying up towards the outpost base, following on foot with the much smaller ground force. He instructed his Eeri herd flanked by a Killer Tiger and a Lorca to wait for him at the foot of the hill which he and Wolf scaled. Wolf had adapted well to his lion DNA by now. He leaped and bounded with a fresh strength, At the top, staring down in a well-defended base packed with anti-air towers, various giant whale crosses with sonar pulse, and a pack of komodo-chimps, Rex felt like doubling his aerial army before attempting the attack. But Lucy was depending on him. She may not be able to wait.

He gave the order to attack.

Wings beat furiously as the army streamed up over the hill. Just on the other side lay the base. A huge bellowing alarm was set up as Rex's creatures dived downhill upon the building Rex could easily see from where he stood. It was a huge rotating fanlike device, standing like a beacon in the far corner of the base.

Two dozen komodo-chimps whirled around and started throwing rocks. Even though they were inaccurate their sheer numbers and volume of the stone missiles meant some of them hit home. A flying eagle-shark rounded on the far bigger army. But the swift, well-planned attack achieved the desired goal. Even under the onslaught, suffering heavy losses, the aerial army brought the amplifier building crashing down.

A few seconds later, Rex staggered. He felt a weight pressing down upon him, as if holding him in place. Roars, wails and trumpets echoed inside his head. Wolf yipped and nuzzled anxiously at his arm. Rex clutched his hands to his head, fighting to stay on his feet.

And then it was past. Rex laid a reassuring hand on Wolf's shoulder - then stared in amazement down into the base.

The pack of komodo-chimps and all of the giant creatures had turned upon the base and were ripping down structures left, right and center. Twisted metal shrieked protest as a gorilla-whale pounded a creature chamber. Clangs echoed as the komodo-chimps hurtled rocks at soundbeam towers on the neighbouring hill.

"What's going on? The Goliaths are under my control now!" Rex wondered aloud. He didn't realize Ganglion had come up behind him until he heard him speak.

"Excellent! Your abilities are even more advanced than I could have imagined!" He sounded like he'd just won first prize in a country fair.

"My abilities?" Repeated Rex, his frustration growing. "Look Ganglion, I don't have time for your little nonsense games! We have a job to do. We have to destroy the second outpost so we can open the gate." He snapped. He was growing sick of restraining his urge not to choke the life out of the irritating little scientist. Perhaps reading some unspoken intent in Rex's dark eyes, Ganglion hastily scurried back to the base.

The first outpost was turning into a complete lack of a problem. With barely a direction from him, the former enemy creatures were trampling it into the ground. As well as the komodo-chimps there was a sperm whale head on both bull and gorilla bodies, an orca head on a rhino, and a trio of frog-elephants. Rex and Wolf started down the hill. Collecting their ground troops, they loped around the corner towards the base.

A gang of archerfish-cheetahs had come through a natural pass in the hills while the moved, and opened fire on his new army. The komodo-chimps had been closest to the pass and were retaliating, but the two groups of units were evenly matched in abilities and number and neither gained ground.

Rex charged in, calling together all the whale and elephant hybrids as he did so. The archerfish-cheetahs couldn't stand up to the bigger creatures, and swiftly Rex led his army through the pass.

A smaller outpost guarded the way. Rex split up the Eeri and the melee attackers, the first to deal with the creatures being produced from the chamber, the second to pull down the soundbeam towers ringing it. A swarm of eagle-orcas flew overhead and blasted his army with soundwave attacks. Eeri lifted their heads to fire back. Wolf sprang from a workshop to drag one out of the air. He wrestled with the much bigger beast on the ground, having torn one of its wings so badly it obviously wouldn't have been able to take off. It snapped at him with its powerful jaws, but it was fairly immobile now it had been grounded and Wolf was easily able to dodge and resume attacking from the side.

Victorious and with the little outpost in ruins behind them, they pressed on. Rex was growing more and more worried about Lucy. He ached to have her safe again, to be able to pick up his radio and hear the sound of her voice, encouraging him, congratulating him, even telling him off about his lack of bathing habits. He wanted to return to the lab and see her standing on the platform to welcome him back. He wanted to take her in his arms and whisk her off somewhere that people like Upton Julius would never be able to hurt her again.

He missed her with a fierceness than surprised him, but made him utterly determined that no matter the cost, he _would_ rescue her.

The base was situated at the north-east end of the island. The shadow of the imposing gate towered above. Rex gritted his teeth. It was taking so long! He needed to get to Lucy and he needed to do it NOW!

There were soundbeam towers on the small hills surrounding the base. Rex left the Eeri behind to electrify them while he, Wolf the Goliaths charged inside.

Rex let himself be swept up into the attack. As usual he dismounted Wolf before venturing into the base, to let the feline-canine hybrid dodge and attack more effectively. It was easier to go along with the flow of charging creatures than stand back, watching them take damage for him, worrying endlessly over Lucy's whereabouts. Two creature chambers had a loose formation of archerfish-cheetah and a swarm of mantis-bulls surrounding them. Against the Goliaths, Rex's impatient aggression and Wolf's swift-snapping teeth, they stood little chance.

Rex himself accounted for seven of the mantis-ants. They were creepy, vicious beasts the size of a large dog that could make giant leaps and be ten feet away from where they were standing in the blink of an eye. They tried to gang up and mob Rex. The bull horns were deadly sharp and the wicked insect legs were serrated and clawed, but they were fragile overall. Rex let instinct take over. He snapped off legs, he lashed out with his fists, he kicked off one that clung to his ankle. Small claw wounds on his arms, shredding his long-sleeved shirt, went unnoticed. Defeating creature after creature, at last there were none left.

Towers and creatures dealt with, Rex let the army rampage through the base, ripping it down on the move. He made his way to a control center he had warned his army not to damage. Aside from a dent left when a snapped-off chamber fragment rebounded off the roof, had not been touched. The gate controls weren't overly complicated. Rex activated the panel, found the right lever and pulled it.

The entire island seemed to shudder and a heavy granting filled the air as the doors swung creakily inward. Rex didn't even want to think how powerful the mechanism must be. He didn't want to comprehend anyone who had the power to build machines like this. As soon as he had Lucy back, he would make sure the world never had to fear Julius. Finally, the doors were fully open.

"Wait there, Mr Chance. I'll come pick you up." Ganglion said via the radio. Rex would have picked him up by the collar and thrown him had he been near enough. "NO! I don't want you flying the lab!" It wasn't just that he simply didn't trust Ganglion, though of course he didn't. It was that he couldn't stand the thought of Ganglion in control of Lucy's precious laboratory. She would have had a fit if she'd known.

"What's wrong?" Ganglion's voice dripped with innocence. "Don't you trust me?"

He climbed up onto the platform and entered the flying train. He had some experience with these early prototypes... he had been inside one... once.

Managing to start the ignition and find the right controls, the lab took off. Below, the henchman eyed one another doubtfully. The original gyrocopter henchman who had been travelling with them in his 'copter since being rescued by Rex and Lucy started up his own craft to follow.

Ganglion gasped as an air current tilted the lab sideways and tried to correct. He pulled a lever the wrong way and the lab dipped, threatening to plunge nose-first into the bay. Ganglion hastily reversed his pull on the lever. He managed to get the lab straightened out and lifted it over the beach, towards the gate. He then managed to pass through without hitting the giant metal doors or venturing too near the anti-air towers lining the hilltops either side. After nearly crashing into a rocky cliff, Ganglion veered the lab over the land, with it bobbing in the air oddly.

"Ah! Eureka!" He cried as he finally brought the lab to touch down in the area the main outpost had been. Rex's creatures certainly hadn't left much sign of it, aside form some curling wisps of smoke in the air.

Rex and Wolf raced towards the lab, but Ganglion appeared willingly enough. Indeed, he appeared quite pleased with himself.

"Excellent job, Mr Chance. I have to say, it is a privilege to observe a specimen such as yourself." Wolf rumbled a warning growl deep in chest, glaring at the doctor. Rex felt like reacting the same way.

"Specimen? What are you talking about?" He demanded.

"You don't know? Your aptitude for controlling the combined creatures, even without the aid of the lab? Oh, the various abilities you've manifested? Surely you must know by now that you are not normal, Mr Chance."

"Just answer the question, Ganglion! What's going on here? What's happened to me?" Rex advanced on the scientist as he spoke, growing more and more threatening. Wolf was keeping pace with his master, and starting to show his teeth. Ganglion held up his crooked fingers in a peaceable gesture.

"I have a letter in my possession that I believe will explain everything." He told Rex.


	28. Island of the Crazies: Part 1

_**Impossible Creatures, Chapter 14, Part One: **_**The Island of the Crazies**

**"The object in life is not to be on the side of the majority, bu to avoid finding oneself in the ranks of the insane." - Marcus Aurelius **

_From the journal of Rex Chance, July 2nd 1937_

_I have found the answers I seek in the form of a letter from my father to Upton Julius. _

_To Mr Julius, dated April 5th, 1937_

_I have a request of you, but to make it, I feel that first you deserve the truth. After all these years and all you've done, I owe you that much. _

_In 1908, what was reported as a comet flattened thousands of kilometers of trees and set fires that burned for weeks in the Tunguska region of Siberia. This was no comet. It was the birth of the Sigma Technology. That fateful night, I participated in the first and last test of a weapon called the death ray, which was developed by a brilliant scientist named Nikola Tesla. _

_Nikola dismantled this weapon afterwards. The results however, could not be dismantled. The ray caused untold devastation, and somehow, brought into existence the original Sigma chamber. I wish I could explain how this occurred, but even after 29 years, I have no solution to this puzzle. _

_The reports say that no one died in the Tunguska event, but that's not true. My darling wife, whom you never knew, did not survive. _

_The only other person directly exposed to the blast was my son, Rex. Amazingly, he was untouched, or so we thought. We had observed many flora and fauna mutations at the epicenter of the Tunguska blast, but nothing like what had happened to my son. I have reason to believe he is the very essence of Sigma, a human combined with thousands of elements from his environment, and far superior as a result. _

_As you know I sentenced myself to a lifetime of exile on these islands, to escape the wrath of the Russian government. I could not however, give my son the same life sentence. I sent him to America with a trusted contact. I wanted him to have a normal existence, which is why I never told you about him. He... is special. The only human to have ever survive being combined, and come out better for it. _

_There's no telling what he's capable of. I want to see him again... tell him the truth about himself. I want to see how my boy has grown up - and beg his forgiveness for what I have done._

_You have done so much for me, but I would like to ask one last favour. Please, help me find my son. _

Rex folded the letter into the pages of his journal and closed it. He laid it down on

tabletop and touched the cover with his fingertips.

"I forgive you... Father."

**Isla Inasnum. **

**July 2nd 1937. **

"So all those dreams I've been having." Rex sighed to Wolf as he landed the lab. "They were memories of my mother's death, and the Tunguska Event, as my father called it. But that doesn't explain why Julius is after me."

"Well, _I_ was hoping for the opportunity to study you." Ganglion told him matter-of-factly from where he sat at the table. "But I'm not sure why Julius wants you."

The lab touched down. Rex turned to glare at Ganglion. "Oh, and I'm supposed to believe he didn't tell you?"

"After telling you so much why would I hold such information back?" Ganglion asked him as they went outside. Wolf growled at Ganglion's back, and the scientist hopped hastily to the ground. Rex wanted to do more than just growl at the man. He jumped off the platform after him, but Wolf hesitated. Lifting his canine head, he sniffed the air warily.

"So why did my father trust Julius with this letter?" Rex demanded.

"He had no reason not to. Your father was a brilliant scientist, but quite buried in his work, and unaware of Julius' intentions."

"What exactly are Julius's intentions?" Rex questioned. Wolf finally jumped to the ground, but his hackles were raised as he he padded over to the two men.

"He intends to use the Sigma technology to take over the world." Ganglion replied, seemingly unbothered by this fact. Rex couldn't believe his ears.

"Take over the world! Why?"

"Oh, the reasons. He goes on and on. Mostly politics, economics, saving his precious America from the evil clutches of fascists and communists everywhere... quite dreary subjects, really. To be honest, I barely listen."

Rex shook his head in disgust. "You sound like one madman complaining about the delusions of another."

"Madman!" Ganglion looked rather put out. "Mr Chance, you wound me. You may not like me, but I have feelings to you, know."

"Oh, you're choking me up over here. So where are we?" Rex was having a look around. He noticed how tense Wolf was and put it down to the huge metal dock built over a large portion of his island. This place gave him the creeps, too. What should have been a tropical island had been turned into a metal wasteland.

"Isla Inasnum. Julius uses this island as a dumping ground for failed experiments. It is very likely he is keeping Lucy here."

"Why would he send her here?" Rex was growing closer and closer to throttling the infuriating man.

"He always hoped that Lucy could be bent to his way of thinking, allowing him to fully replace Chanikov. But Lucy was too loyal to your father, so Julius gave up. In many ways, I believe he thinks of her as nothing more than a failed experiment herself." Rex's blood boiled at the very thought, and be barely managed to restrain himself. Fuming, he turned away to set up a creature chamber. He could see a trio of henchman approaching from the metal dock to the east to aid them.

"Oh, Mr Chance? There's one more thing. There is a virus on this island that tends to drive combined creatures mad and then kill them. Since you too have been combined, it is likely you have now been infected with this virus."

"Why, you little-" A particularly loud snarl from Wolf obscured Rex's profanity.

"Oh, don't worry." Ganglion told him smugly. "I think there's a cure somewhere on the island. I don't think you have much time, though. Only, say, fifteen minutes or so."

Rex had never want to to kill Ganglion quite this badly, but he didn't have a scrap of spare time. He needed to get the base set up and a force together - fast.

"You, get me a creature chamber, you a water chamber, and you - soundbeam towers, I want them right now!"

Rex started building Eeri the second he could. If any creature he built was going to be infected with this virus and go insane, he wanted nothing but Eeri in his force - the danger of having a Lorca turn on their base before it could be stopped was too great to risk.

He understood now why Wolf had been wary of this place. It hadn't been the metal walkways - it had been because he knew that there was something very wrong on this island. Weather he could smell some tiny trace of the virus itself or just signs of the failed experiments, as Ganglion put it, Rex didn't know.

Worry flashed over his face when he looked down at Wolf. After everything they'd been through together, he couldn't loose his faithful friend now.

"Be careful Mr Chance. Some of your creatures are succumbing to the virus. You will loose control of them first, but they may even decide to attack you."

Rex quickly realized Ganglion was right. When he looked over at the group of eight waiting Eeri, one of them had wandered apart from the rest. When he called it back he got no response. Before his eyes a crazed look flashed in its white eyes and it opened fire on the other seven. Rex hastily ordered them to take the errant Eeri down. He hated doing it, killing one of his own animals, but he had no way of reversing the virus's effects.

He glanced to Wolf and placed a hand on his neck. Wolf lowered his head until his muzzle rested on Rex's shoulder.

"Don't worry, boy. We'll get through this." Rex told his pet. But there was a part of him that desperately wished there were someone to tell him the same thing.

Several more Eeri turned on him and Rex had no option but to eliminate each one. It was agonizing, waiting for enough Eeri to be built to have a hope of finding the virus, while having their numbers deplete steadily.

He had the henchman set up more soundbeam towers in clusters of two and three, all around his base. Once he left for the antidote they might be the lab's only defense. He watched the progress with his mind half-occupied, worrying over Lucy. Was she all right? If there were insane creatures roaming this island, infected by a deadly virus... surely Julius would have left her somewhere safe. Surely, she wouldn't have been attacked. But in his heart he was worried he would never see her again.

He managed to get twenty-one Eeri built but as he was about to give the order to move out, he lost control of three of them.

The remainder of he and the herd charged up to the metal section of the island. Rex felt his nerves go into high alert as their hooves clopped hollowly on the dock. Wolf's paws were soundless as he carried Rex along, but his paws didn't grip as well as they did on proper terrain and his caution transmitted itself to his rider.

Rex was almost glad when they encountered a soundbeam tower and three hornet-eels. His Eeri blasted the fragile flying creatures out of the sky, then turned on the soundbeam tower. Their powerful electric attack soon had it down and Rex urged them on. He might have enjoyed the feeling of galloping in the middle of the Eeri herd if certain death weren't hanging over all of their heads.

A group of zebra-tigers didn't keep them long, either. Five camel-rats charged down from a nearby hill. Glad to leave the metal dock behind Rex fired his rifle from Wolf's back as he ran onward. The Camel-rats were all but trampled underhoof - his herd could sense the urgency of the man directing them. Wolf and the Eeri charged uphill. They then had to spend precious time destroying three soundbeam towers. During this time two more Eeri turned on him. Rex groaned as ordered his other fifteen to attack them. Would he have any army left by the time he reached the antidote?

On they headed, towards a second metallic dock. A sizable force of lobster-porcupines started firing form its fringe, but luckily their range was far less than his Eeri. A scorpion-elephant charged and between them, the enemy creatures claimed another Eeri.

Rex could make out an unfamiliar building on the metal section ahead. A large, rounded chamber on a four-legged support. There was a creature chamber beside it with yet more enemies for them to take down, plus two soundbeam towers. Rex felt the tension straining at him unbearably as the Eeri stared attacking. With a sudden yelp Wolf stopped dead in his tracks. Rex went flying over his head, but amazingly managed to land in a crouch, with one hand on the dock for balance.

"Wolf?" Dread seized him. Wolf was trembling violently from nose to tailtip. He dropped flat on his belly, pressing himself against the ground.

Rex took a step towards him, but only one. Wolf whined. It was clearly a request. Rex turned his head. He had ten Eeri remaining. He looked back to Wolf, who squeezed his cloudy eyes tightly closed.

"Fire on the chamber! Attack the chamber!" Rex bellowed. "Wolf, hang in th-"

He was cut off as a furry missile struck him in the chest. Huge canine jaws snapped closed, grazing his nose. "Wolf, no!" At the sound of his voice Wolf shuddered violently, pulling his head back a little. Rex had him by the shoulders, Wolf's paws on his chest, but even with his strength he knew that if Wolf lost control, he would break free in seconds. Eeri electricity rocketed overhead. There was a huge explosion and a piece of metal hit the ground inches from Rex and Wolf. A roaring waterfall of metallic blue liquid poured from the hole in the chamber above them. Both Rex and Wolf were knocked clear off their feet.

Spluttering, Rex wiped his face. Concerned Eeri nosed around them. Rex sat up and looked at Wolf. He raised his head and gazed back at Rex, who breathed a sigh of relief as he looked into Wolf's pure white eyes.

They had found the cure.


	29. Island of the Crazies: Part 2

_**Impossible Creatures, Chapter Fourteen, Part Two: **_**Island of the Crazies**.

Rex allowed himself a quick breather one he had dosed himself with the cure spilling from the ruined chamber. He watched his now healthy dozen Eeri milling about the chamber and turned to check on Wolf. He was lying down, his forepaws nearly touching the pool of liquid cure, panting heavily and looking exhausted. Rex realized he felt rather like Wolf looked. A sudden tiredness begged him to sit down and made his head swim. Rex leaned unsteadily against a slightly slanted pole that had been holding up the cure chamber, his head hanging. He might be cured now but he hadn't realized until the rush of adrenadile from battle faded how worn out his body had become battling the Sigma-targeted virus. He fought not to sit down beside Wolf. They still had to rescue Lucy, and there was also a base to destroy on this island. Weakly he waved the Eeri over to the pathway leading around to the southern part of the island to stand guard there. He radioed the base for them to send the gyrocoper up with some supplies. It was be easiest if he built a second creature chamber beside the source of the cure so he wouldn't lose any more creatures to the virus.

Rex dozed off standing, propped up by the post. He wasn't even awake when the gyrocopter landed and the henchman started to set up the creature chamber.

A nudge at his ankle brought his eyes open though. Wolf lurched up onto his paws, looking a little unsteady still, but with his white eyes shining in determination.

"What is it, Wolf?" Rex couldn't see any enemy creatures approaching. But Wolf was focused back the way they'd come. They had travelled in a full U-turn following the lay of the land and now overlooked the first metal dock just down from their base. Rex followed Wolf's line of sight and gaped as a huge creature broke the surface of the bay, blowing a spout of vapor into the air. It was a sperm whale. "Come on, Wolf. We've got to get a sample!" Rex told Wolf, and they set off together back down the hill.

The whale was still swimming in a lazy, unrushed fashion when they made it to the edge of the metal platform. Rex glanced down at the water - several meters from the dock surface. He could have continued up closer to his main base and entered the water at the little beach beside it, but Rex didn't want to risk the whale diving while he doubled back. He pulled off his boots, rifle and his shirt and overcoat, taking in his hand a single needle to collect a sample. Then he dived off the metal dock.

He hit the water smoothly and kept plunging down for a short distance. When he opened his eyes, the world of water was nearly dominated by a grey wall he realized was the side of the whale. Light reflected a shimmering pattern off the whale's skin. Striking out for the surface, his head broke through the waves and he drew in a deep breath. Wolf stared down at him from above, looking anxious. "Don't worry, Wolf." Rex had no intention of getting eaten by a whale. No one would be left to rescue Lucy.

He didn't even think the whale felt it as he took the sample. It was so large - bobbing beside it, Rex would only make out a shadowy grey shape, mainly underwater. He got the impression of a peaceful, intelligent mind as he laid his hand on the whale's side. But there was little time to acquaint himself with the cetacean. Rex struck out for the little beach beside his base. He had to get to Lucy... he didn't know what he'd do without her.

Wolf trotted up to meet him, carrying a white piece of material in his jaws. Rex recognized his shirt when Wolf dropped it at his feet. He patted him gratefully after he put it on and Wolf wagged his tail, accompanying the man as he went back up the metal dock to collect the rest of his belongings.

As they arrived at their small outpost, a mob of chameleon-bats winged up form the south. They passed quite low overhead, aiming their tongue attacks at the new creature chamber, but a few Eeri soon took care of the fragile flyers. Wolf sprang up at the last one and batted at it, sending it bouncing off the metal dome of the cure chamber. It didn't move again afterwards. Rex was pleased to see Wolf's usual agility returning - it meant he was recovering well form the virus.

The chamber was completed by now. Rex decided to update a few of his designs now that he had new whale DNA to add in. The first thing he did was update the Lorca, replacing the killer whale portion with the new sperm whale sample. It was much the same creature, only with even higher health, so Rex didn't change its name. His Killer Tiger became bigger and stronger, too. He began production.

Hammerhead chimps started to attack from further down the path. They didn't have as good defense or as much health as the Eeri but they were persistent and they scooped up handfuls of rocks and metal scraps to rain upon Rex's army. Eeri snorted and pawed the ground as they waited for the wary shark-age hybrids to venture close enough for a battle of ranged attacks to begin.

Rex set them up in a semi-circle with three rows, so they could fire over one another's heads. He flanked the edge of the formation with Killer Tigers, which blasted the hammerhead-chimps with sonic waves to slow them down and let the Eeri fire electrical attacks. In this way they defended themselves until Rex had enough of an army to attack. He prepared the substantial force of thirty Eeri, four Killer Tigers, and ten Lorca.

They were ready.

Down the path was a soundbeam tower. In itself it didn't present much danger, but there was a herd of hammerhead-sharks grouped around a chamber just below it. To his shock, Rex saw a very similar shape to the Eeri emerge form the creature chamber. It was a hippo-eel, a slightly smaller remake of the Eeri design. Rex brought it down quickly, before he started concentrating on the hammerhead-chimps. Luckily his Eeri had slightly better range.

He lost two Eeri in the attack, but the Lorca were soon grouped around the creature chamber, ripping it to shreds in their claws. Meanwhile the Eeri pressed forward and removed a soundbeam tower from a nearby hillside. Rex, mounted on Wolf, saw a small but well set-up base just ahead of the hill. Soundbeam towers were protected by brambles. He let the Orca go in first, their tough exoskeletons granting them some protection from the soundwaves and the fence's thorns. With as many Eeri as he had they had little trouble breaking through the defenses. They were harassed by more Hippo-eels and another group of hammerhead-chimps that emerged up yet another metal dock further along the path, but they only served to slow them momentarily. They dismantled the anti-air towers at the rear of the base and pressed on to the next dock.

Hornet-eels swooped down as they clopped along it. Eeri fired while on the run, rainbow arcs bright in the air. The hornet-eels barely got a handful of retaliatory blasts back before their striped bodies bounced unforgivingly onto the docks. Rex and the army stampeded onward. Barely a few steps up the dock was yet another creature chamber, guarded by hilltop towers. More hornet-eels swooped. Rex split up the Eeri, letting half attack the soundbeam towers and the remainder target the flying enemies. The Lorca pushed past them to tear down the chamber, used to the routine by now.

The army were looking a bit battered as a whole by the time this base was destroyed. Several Eeri limped and fell to the rear of the army and a Killer Tiger was on its last legs, though it hobbled on resolutely with the rest.

Rex knew when they'd reached the main base. He barely got a glimpse of the soundbeam towers before they were attacked. A dozen hippo-eagles, huge flying shark-eagles, and more hammerhead-chips ran up to defend their base. Stones, soundwaves and electrical charges flew. The Lorca lumbered into the fray. Multiple soundbeam towers slowed them even further. When a second group of hippo-eels swam up form the bay beside the base things started to get ugly. Rex slid from Wolf's back to let him charge in. He plunged towards the nearest hippo-eel and sank his fangs painfully into its nose. The beast reared straight up, but Wolf hung on, swept right off his paws by the bigger creature. A Lorca came to his aid, snapping with its pincers at the hippo-eel's ankles. It crashed down onto its side, easy prey for Wolf and the Lorca.

The Eeri were being steadily depleted by the new hippo-eels. Rex yelled at them to take on one at a time as he loaded his rifle, firing at one in the rear, still afloat in the bay. It sank below the surface as his dart hit home.

A rhino-mantis charged form further back in the base. Some of the main defenses had fallen but Rex's army was dwindling fast. He set two Lorca to seek out and destroy any creature chamber, ignoring all attacks. After dealing with the final hippo-eel he turned the Eeri on the water chamber in the bay. Once that had fallen Rex allowed himself to relax a notch. They had turned the tide, at the cost of over three-quarters of the Eeri. But most of the Lorca had survived a little better, repairing minor damage shortly after receiving it. He set them on some of the bases' smaller buildings, and franctically started a search of the lab and the outbuildings around it. Wolf bounded with him, his keen senses at the ready. Ten tense and frustrating minutes later, he knew Ganglion had lied to him. Lucy wasn't on this island - Ganglion had truly set him up. He stood back and let the Lorca rip into the lab. He didn't flinch as huge chunks of metal rained down from the falling building.

"That's the end of that. Now to pay back Ganglion for bringing us here in the first place." Wolf growled his agreement.

"I don't think so, Mr Chance." Ganglion was monitoring Rex's radio. "Next time you should think twice before you leave your keys behind!" He broke into gleeful and rather deranged giggles as he climbed into the lab. Rex gave a shout of dismay as he saw it taking off. Even with Wolf running at full-speed he never could have made it back to base in time - Ganglion would have disappeared, leaving Rex no idea of where to go.

The Eeri had circled a helicopter pad, where a terrified henchman clung protectively to the gyprocopter upon it. "Wait!" Rex raced over as the Eeri paused, still ready to fire. It was a much bigger gyrocopter than the one he was used to - probably one of Julius's personal ones. It had two seats and a powerful looking propeller.

"I need to borrow your gyrocopter!" He demanded, pushing through the Eeri herd.

"But I love my copter!" Protested the henchman weakly, staring nervously over his shoulder at the restless Eeri. "Aren't you riding in your lab?"

Rex shifted his boots. "Ganglion, um, stole it."

This seemed to bemuse the henchman. "He stole it? How? You'd have to do something stupid, like, uh, leave the keys inside."

"Hey!" Rex protested defensively. "It's not like I haven't had a lot on my mind, all right?" Something snapped within in and he'd had it with arguing. He was watching Lucy's lab flying off into the distance, and any chance of finding her with it. He clenched his fist and smacked the henchman in the jaw, knocking him out cold.

"Come on, Wolf!" The gyrocopter leaned rather noticeably to the side with Wolf in the spare seat, but it still flew. It wasn't difficult to figure out how to steer the copter, since the controls were a more simplified version of the lab's. He turned the craft after the lab.

"I'm coming for you, Lucy. Even if I have to fight through both Julius and Ganglion to do it."


	30. Seeds Sewn, Part One

_**Impossible Creatures: Chapter Fifteen, Part One:**_** Seeds Sewn**

**"He who fights monsters should see to it that in the process, he does not become a monster." - Nietzche. **

**Isla Tantus**

**Later that same day...**

Rex flew the gyrocopter over top of a channel, watching the lab flying in front of him like a hawk. Ganglion's piloting skills were far from stellar and Rex was amazed and relieved he hadn't ploughed into any boulders yet.

Towering alongside them was a huge metal fortress. It screamed Julius's stronghold to Rex, who had a hard time comprehending why anyone else would build giant metal plates over a beautiful tropical island.

As the lab pulled up slowly to pass over a small cliff on the coast, Rex seized his chance to fly past it, warning Ganglion he was right on his tail. The lab made it over the rock pile and started descending towards the ground, Rex quickly bringing the gyrocopter down nearby. Wolf was springing out of it before the skids were on the ground. He raced to the lab and stood half a pace form the rear platform, soundless, glaring, and waiting.

The sun was setting in a blaze of crimson over the water. Rex strode over to the lab as Ganglion emerged, looking innocent. Rex laid a hand on Wolf's shoulder to stop him leaping at the scientist and savaging him, though the notion was highly tempting.

"Isla Tantus.. .the last stop. I'm surprise he isn't here to greet us." Rex turned his head to study the lay of the land. They were on a low sandy strip, with hills to the north and west, and the ocean curling around the southeast of the landing spot.

"Why Mr Chance - who's to say he isn't?" Ganglion raised his hand as a sturdy two-seater gyrocopter buzzed over the northern hills. Wolf's whole body stiffened and his lips pulled back, exposing his teeth.

As the gyrocopter pulled up to land, there was a deafening roar and a nearly dozen creatures thundered down from the hillside. Three komodo-tigers, two gorilla-killer whales, two hyena-goats and three hippo-dragonfly made up the sizable little army, shaking the ground as they pounded along. Rex whirled around to face them, raising his hands slightly in a defensive gesture. Wolf pressed his shoulder against Rex's, hackles raised, swinging his head from side to side as he snarled warnings.

"Why, you no-good backstabber!" snapped Rex, turning on Ganglion and grabbing him with one hand. The short man smiled thinly. "You didn't actually expect my help... _did you_?" He asked deviously. Rex bared his teeth in a Wolflike expression.

Julius strode up to his creatures, who had formed a loose ring around Rex, Wolf and Ganglion. Knowing there could be no fighting his way out this time, Rex threw Ganglion aside. At a warning growl from Wolf he hastily crawled over behind Julius, hiding himself behind the pale-skinned man's much bulkier form. Rex knew they had no hope of surviving a battle with this many creatures, but he wasn't about to admit that to Julius. To get to Lucy he would have fought until his very last breath.

"So, Julius. I see you've decided to do the sensible thing, and give up."

Julius laughed in delight. "Ha-ha, ah, Rex Chance, you are a worthy adversary." He admired, lifting a large controller he had in one hand. There was a single red button set on the top. "Vigilant right to the very end. But sure, you must know... this is the end." He clicked the button with one forefinger.

Rex felt searing pain shoot through him. It was if a hundred Eeri were hitting him with their electrical attacks. He staggered, loosing his feeling in his arms and legs. Beside him Wolf howled in pain, thrashing his paws and kicking up plumes of sand. "Arrgh... I... can't move!" Rex grunted, barely able to force the words out. "What's... happening?" His arm shook as he tried to straighten out his fingers, which refused to respond.

"You are a product of the original Sigma Chamber, which, thanks to your father, is now mine." gloated Julius. "As the chamber controls the animals that it created, so it controls you, Mr Chance. I just needed you to come within range. Now, I control your body. Soon, when you tire, I'll control your mind!" The sick, triumphant look in his eyes went unnoticed by both Rex and Wolf, who struggled vainly against their unseen bonds.

"I... won't... be... controlled!" growled Rex. An instant later he doubled over, nearly falling, but he managed to wrench his head up to glare at Julius. "I'll fight you every step of the way!"

Julius laughed, shaking his head pityingly. "Ho-oh, yes, I'm sure! But I don't plan on keeping you around. A few simple tests, followed by a thorough dissection will give me all the information I need to reproduce an army of combined men, not unlike yourself, each one capable of controlling creatures across continents!" As he spoke, his animals started to grow restless. A hyena-ram tossed its horned head. A gorilla-killer whale exhaled loudly. A komodo-tiger shifted from paw to paw. Julius didn't notice, he was so caught up in his grandiose dreams. Ganglion, behind him, had a delighted expression as he considered the scientific mysteries he might find while hacking up Rex's body. "He-heh, my victory is practically _foretold_." Julius finished.

He was mad. _Completely, utterly mad_, Rex thought. "Swine! I'll get you for this!"

Julius was amused. "How, Mr Chance? You'll be dead!"

Rex lost his balance altogether and fell, struggling to get up again. Wolf was in no better state. Blood foamed around his mouth where he'd bit his tongue, and his white eyes were loosing their sharp intelligence for a glaze of pain.

The creatures suddenly erupted in a huge chorus of squeals, bleats, growls and bellows. A gorilla-killer whale reared up powerfully, then pounded its fists threateningly into the sand. The komodo-tigers started to advance on Julius.

"Upton!" Ganglion exclaimed. "Amazing! It seems your creatures instinctively want to protect him!" Julius, his former gloating expression switching to one of alarm, pressed the red button on his controller several times. The hippo-dragonflies started lumber towards him, too. Amazingly, Rex, his expression determined, lurched up to his feet.

Ganglion seemed to realize the creature's revolt wasn't such an amazing thing after all. "Run! He's taking control of them!" He screamed, taking off for the gyrocopter. Rex found an inner reserve of strength and flung his arms out. A wave of white energy exploded from him, expanding out over the creatures. He felt their minds connect with his own, asking him for permission. He gasped, nodded, and fell.

The creatures charged outright. Julius hastily ran after Ganglion. He tossed the useless controller into the sand as he climbed into the gyrocopter.

"Don't think this is over, Mr Chance!" roared Julius, furious at having to retreat. A swift komodo-tiger sprang into the air, but they were already too high for it. Just behind it, a gorilla-killer whale reared up onto its hindlegs with a terrifying bellow, swiping at the gyrocopter. He hit one skid, sending the machine into a lurch, but Julius corrected and yanked the control stick to bring the gyrocopter out of its reach. He headed for the metal structure.

Rex, dazed and battered, lifted his chin from the sand. A hippo-dragonfly tilted its huge head and nudged his ankle. Sitting beside him, a komodo-tiger bent its reptile head down, sniffing anxiously at Rex's hair. "Thanks, fellas." Rex said weakly, patting the komodo-tiger's nose. Next to him Wolf rose to his paws, sand coating his thick fur. He worked his jaws, flicked his tail and extended his claws, as if checking he was in control of himself again. Then he butted his head lightly on the komodo-tiger's shoulder. The striped creature, who was Wolf's size, grunted obligingly and lowered his head, almost seeming to nod.

With the help of Wolf and the komodo-tiger, Rex made it onto his feet. He felt drained, but he forced himself to try and push away the exhaustion. Lucy... he had to find... Lucy...

He took a single step towards the lab and pitched face-first back into the sand.

When Rex came to, he first became aware of something warn, furry and very heavy draped over him. He opened his eyes to see Wolf's very large head resting on his chest, a foreleg draped over his body. Two white eyes blinked sleepily back at him, then Wolf lifted his head, gave Rex a lick on the chin, and got up.

Rex sat up as well. Night had fallen and it was dark, but his sharp sense of hearing told him there were sounds of construction going on around him.

He did feel stronger for his forced period of rest as he got to his feet. He didn't have any idea how long he'd been out, but since the lab was still in one piece he decided it couldn't have been all night.

As his eyes adjusted to the dark he realized two first was that one of the Isla Inasnum henchmen (Probably not the one he'd knocked out cold and stolen the gyrocopter from) must have radioed ahead and organized some henchman here, because three of them were setting up soundbeam and anti-air towers around the lab. Creature and water chambers had both been constructed.

Secondly, Rex realized the animals formerly allied with Julius were still here. The hippo-ants were bunched together, their spindly legs sticking out to the sides as they slept in a small herd. A watchful hyena-ram patrolled the base perimeter. The two komodo-tigers were curled up together on the lab's platform, one resting its chin on the other's back.

Rex saw one last shape moving silently against the cliff wall the lab had risen over earlier. He recognized the grey skin of an elephant and without thinking, reached for his rifle. He would add this one last DNA sample to his army.

The elephant barely flinched when Rex collected it. It was hard to tell weather the dart had a calming effect on it or it was just like that naturally. Sample collected, Rex headed over to give the henchman a few words of praise before loading the new DNA. They'd collected coal since nightfall and huge piles of it were stacked behind the chamber. He would be able to build a string of uninterrupted creatures... which was a good thing, since Rex didn't think they had long. Dawn, something inside him told him. They'll attack at dawn.

He knew that his Killer Tiger and Lorcas were about as big and tough as they'd ever get, but he re-did the Eeri blueprint, replacing the rhino body with the elephant's. Their health increased, and their key electrical attack had a higher power and range.

He eyed the sperm whale blueprint for a moment. Its major benefit was health... with its sheer size there was nothing to rival the health statistic. Rex suddenly remembered many islands ago when he'd noticed how high the wolverine's health was for its size. He pulled both of them up on the screen and nearly fell over. Together, the whale and the wolverine had just over fifteen hundred health. The defense rating was moderately high, but that amount of health would simply take an age to get through even with it. Rex modified the blueprint so the creature had none of the whale parts, but retained the size of it. He left the giant creature's name at simply 'Wolverine' and accepted the blueprint.

The best effect of the larger sized blueprints was definately the multiplying effect they had on smaller creatures, Rex decided. He remembered on Isla Pario, how the elephant-ants had defended the factory and whittled through most of his army. A large creature, combined with a small...

Rex brought up the elephant then scanned his small creatures. The ant's leg attack did five damage at its size... but he went one better then re-making Julius's blueprint. The dragonfly he'd been given long ago by a grateful villager had a leg attack of six damage... well.

Rex combined the pair into a Dragant. The front legs of the dragonfly for its attack, the back legs of the elephant for the charge attack, the head of the elephant for its long, dangerous tusks. It's powerful melee of 38 was backed up by formidable health and defense.

Rex saved the Dragant and closed the combiner program. They were ready.

Through the night he built his army. Every pole the lab had stored was used to mount soundbeam and anti-air towers around the base. A light haze appeared in the east. His army grew steadily, watched over by Wolf and the assortment of Julius's former creatures.

Dawn arrived.

Cheetah-piranhas with their grossly oversized fish heads pelted down the beach flanked by a tough scorpion-elephant. Rex used his neurotoxin darts to slow down the latter. He had a herd of Eeri ready and waiting to back up the converted portion of Julius's army. The attacks came from the west, which Rex suspected was the way to Julius's base. A voice over the radio made him grind his teeth.

"You can't possibly defeat both of us, Mr Chance." Ganglion informed him. "The odds are stacked too high against you. Why not make it easy on yourself, and simply give up?"

Rex was about to snap an answer into his radio when he got a nasty surprise. A large group of small ant-eels emerged from the hills above the base and set upon a soundbeam tower there. He re-directed some Eeri to return much heavier electrical fire, realizing Julius must have some sort of outpost there that had been told to harass him to keep him busy. Ganglion must have been trying to distract him so he wouldn't notice the attack. Rex quickly called over a Lorca, a Killer Tiger, a Dragant and a Wolverine to join the six Eeri. It was time to see how his new and improved army fared in battle.

He sent them north into the hills, where soundbeam towers immediately started shooting them from the ground and the rocky hills either side. The Wolverine bolted forward, flattened the bramble fences guarding the two ground-level weapons, and start swinging one giant forepaw. The Eeri started firing at the tower on one side and the Killer Tiger and the Dragant charged together into the hills on the other side.

The soundbeam towers reduced to rubble, they pressed on into the hills. A creature chamber produced more ant-eels but the flimsy little creatures could have been stepped on unnoticed by Rex's army. They pounded the chamber into dust, then the workshop collecting coal nearby. A few anti-airs towers later and there were few signs the outpost had ever existed.

Rex brought the animals home, Wolf lowering his head so the man could ruffle his neck fur. "Wolf, they'd going to need much better defenses to stop us this time. Come on, let's get more creatures built."

Subsequent attacks made very little impact on Rex's towering group creatures. Constantly adding to them, unhampered by the need to wait for enough coal to power the creature chamber with the reserve built up overnight, his army's ranks grew swiftly.

He knew when they were prepared for the attack. Forty-two of them stood before him, ready and waiting. Rex grouped them together, checking over them all. Some of them bore minor wounds from the attacking creatures, but each of them were ready to brave anything.

Wolf crouched for Rex to climb into his back. Sitting high enough to be at eye level with most of his creatures, Rex felt a cold fury build inside him. It all came down to this. Nothing was going to stop them.

"Take down every structure on this island!" He ordered his army, and a chorus of bellows, roars, squeals and grunts replied. Wolf threw back his head and howled as he raced to the forefront of the army. The rest of the creatures charged after him.

The hills were lined with soundbeam towers and little herds of ant-eels. Without waiting for Rex to get off Wolf went bounding for the small enemy creatures, leaping upon them, trapping them between his paws and disabling them with a single bite. He was so swift he could dodge the frantic electric attacks of the little ant-eels, and within the space of two minutes he had taken care of a dozen of them. The rest of the army crushed the soundbeam towers. They had slowed them down momentarily and dealt minimal damage, but nothing more.

The got into trouble when they reached the western edge of the island. They had to travel alongside a rocky cliff to get around it and up to the level of the base. Soundbeam towers fired down from above, eagle-cobras swooped and spat venom, and grouping around the soundbeam towers were a large number chimp-giraffes, scooping pawfuls of loose shale to throw down at Rex's army. Wolf yipped as a small but sharp stone nicked his face above his left eye, causing a bleeding gash. Shaking his head, he charged alongside the cliff, moving so fast he nearly left Rex behind. Catching himself and gripping Wolf's neckfur, Rex called to his creatures - they were sitting ducks at the foot of the cliff, and only on level ground could they made a decent stand. Gritting his teeth, he watched his army run through waves of sound and rock. They were taking damage, and there was nothing he could do.

And then they were running up a grassy slope to reach the clifftop, and there was a _lot_ he could do. He jumped from Wolf to let him charge, backed by three Dragants, towards the chimp-giraffes. Around him the rest of his creatures were making it to the top. Enraged by cuts from rocks and buffets of soundwaves from the towers, they attacked with ferocity. A string of elephant-scorpions raced up to try and defend the base. A Lorca met with them outstretched pincers. The Eeri opened fire on the eagle-cobras and winged snake bodies dropped from the sky. As the towers started to fall Rex made out the base itself just above them. Two creature chambers and an air chamber were grouped close together. He split his Lorca and Dragants to attack the production structures, with the Eeri fanning out behind them. He was forced to pull some of them away when a fresh group of elephant-scorpions arrived but there were too many of Rex's creatures and not enough of the enemy to defend against them. Building by building, Rex ripped through the base he knew was Ganglion's. Wolf raced between the buildings, searching for Lucy's scent, but finding nothing. He took out his frustration on the next elephant-scorpion to show up. The bigger animal stabbed with its tail, which Wolf leaped up, latched on to, then bit clean through, detaching it from its body.

Rex finally knew the lab was the only thing standing - Ganglion's last one. Though the cliff trick had been a good one, once past that he could see the base had not been standing for long. Ganglion's lab groaned and warped under the onslaught of the army.

On the fringes of the base, Ganglion himself appeared, throwing his hands into the air in terror. "I must escape. For science's sake. For the world's sake! I must escape!" He wailed, staring horrified as Rex's mighty Sigma animals tore his lab apart at the seams.

There was a sudden snarl and a creature leaped from ranks, landing several paces in front of Ganglion. To his horror, the scientist instantly recognized the sharp white eyes, the long wolf body and head, the tawny lion legs. Rex's most loyal creature gave him a long, unblinking stare. There a single snarl ripped from him and he crouched, preparing to spring.

"Ahhhhh!" Shrieked Ganglion, backing away. Behind him was a large, industrial fan that was part of the ventilation system for the metal structure Julius's base was built upon. The wall loomed just behind Ganglion's base site, reaching many times above even the tall Killer Tiger's head.

Wolf pounced as Ganglion stumbled backwards over the rim of the fan. He landed in front of it, watching Ganglion tumble in with a grim expression. The scientist screamed as the blade cut his limbs, but that was the least of his problems. Swung around by the high-powered machinery, Ganglion found himself tossed into the air as if he were a swatted bug. Wolf lifted his head to watch the white-coated man flying over the bay, heading directly for the wall. He flicked an ear to his human as Rex came to stand by his side.

They both heard the man's final terrified scream followed by the sickening crunch as his body met the unforgiving metal wall. Putting an arm around Wolf's neck, Rex turned to survey the remains of the base. He knew that defeating Julius's base would not be so simple. As if confirming his doubts, Julius's gravelly voice sounded over his radio. "A valliant effort, Mr Chance. But surely, you know you can't win."

Rex clicked the radio off and gazed back up at the metal walls. Was Lucy up there somewhere? Was she... he refused to let himself finish the thought. He would come for her, no matter what.

_We'll just see about that, Julius. _


	31. Seeds Sewn, Part Two

_**Impossible Creatures: Chapter Fifteen, Part two:**_** Seeds Sewn**

Rex sent for a fresh set of creatures from his base before he tried an attack on Julius's part of the island. From the remnants of Ganglion's base there was only one way to go - straight up and over a narrow bridge of land leading to the metal section of the island. Rex didn't trust it in the least. It was a natural funnel that could easily be turned into a trap - especially with his huge creatures. He wanted the backup of extra creatures, even if it gave Julius a chance to build more himself.

He looked at Wolf to judge his reaction. Standing at the head of the army, his sharp senses were all trained on the bridge, his pose tense. Rex laid his hand on Wolf's shoulder. They would go together.

He mounted, his expression resolute. This was it. From here there was only two outcomes - victory, or failure - which would mean death. Nothing else was going to stop him.

This time there were no fierce war-cries. Sitting upon Wolf, he turned to look back at his army, who stood alertly. The white fire of their eyes were like stars in the sky, blazing back at him.

"No other way, fellas. This is all we're ever going to have. Fight carefully - watch each other's backs." Small rounded wolverine ears and large blanket-like elephant ears twitched as they listened, and a pair of the komodo tigers tossed their heads in agreement, brushing their shoulders together.

"Move out!" Called Rex in a low, steady voice. Wolf reared up onto his hindlegs (Rex grabbed his ruff in time to hold on) and slashed the air with his forepaws. The Komodo tigers, Wolverines, and Killer Tigers imitated his move, the Eeri and the Dragants reared up more briefly to paw the air, and the Lorca waved their pincers high. Sharing Rex's calm, deadly determination, they were ready to face death for him. With this support behind them, Wolf dropped to all fours and cantered steadily up the land bridge, the army pressing behind.

The instant they reached the mainland again a dozen soundbeam towers bowled Wolf off his paws. Rex thumped hard into the ground, Wolf struggling as he threw his body over Rex's, shielding the man from the bone-jarring sonic attacks.

The ground shook as the Eeri thudded past. With their tough leathery hides and eel heads the sonic attacks had less effect on them than the other creatures. With their big bodies surrounding them, Rex and Wolf were able to stand, and Wolf nudged the man back onto his back so he could see their surroundings easier over the Eeri.

To the east and west the base of the land bridge was enclosed by two tall cliffs lined with soundbeam towers. Directly ahead of them, a smaller outcrop of rocks blocked the way to three more towers.

The Eeri halted as one, drew back their heads, and fired rainbow bursts in every direction. Tripod legs, stray wiring and loudspeakers went flying.

A Killer Tiger galloped for the outcrop ahead of them. With a single leap he cleared the rock pile, bringing down a soundbeam tower as he hurtled on top of it. With an impressed bark, Wolf followed him up, taking two bounds to get to the top that nearly threw Rex clear with the sheer power of them. The remaining two towers were focusing their fire on the Killer Tiger and Wolf was able to slip underneath the nearest one without drawing its attention. Paws flashing, he began to dig at the base of the nearest leg. The metal structure that edged all sides of the island did not cover the ground here, and the sandy soil gave easily under Wolf's speedy excavation. He ducked aside as the tripod groaned, then tilted alarmingly. Rex would have laughed under different circumstances as the leg sank into the hole Wolf had dug, putting too much pressure on one side. The entire structure fell.

Eeri were already taking care of the final tower. Over on one of the cliffs, an Lorca had made it to the top and was crushing the towers between its mighty pincers.

Wolf leaped back down the cliff, Rex's almost biting his own tongue, his jumps were so strong. At the bottom of the outcrop there was a bronze status of Julius, hands on hips, foot lifted to rest on a sphere, with an embossed plate reading 'Regardless' on the stone stand. Rex jumped from Wolf's back, thankful to still be in one piece, and stared up at the tall statue. Cold, lifeless eyes stared down at him from its hostile face. Rex decided the statue was a good representation of Julius - and as such, he despised it.

Wolf shared his sentiments. He lifted his head and barked loudly, catching the attention of the Killer Tiger up on the outcrop. The huge feline-whale hybrid exhaled a jet of air through its blowhole in understanding. He gathered his mighty legs under him and jumped.

Rex dived aside. The bronze statue crashed to the ground, the Killer Tiger's paws braced against Julius's shoulders. As the massive creature's weight came down on top, it flattened the entire torso. A crack subsequently appeared along the neck. Casually, the Killer Tiger reached down with his whale head, clamped his powerful jaws around the statue's head, and ripped it away with a single heave. He tossed the bronze object, letting it bounce off the rocks, over the metal edge of the island and into the ocean below.

It seemed to sum up Rex's feelings nicely. Then Wolf swung around and snarled a warning to him and the creatures.

Thundering towards them was Julius's army. Lioness-hornets swooped out of the sky. Swift cheetah-pirhana and tough bull-lobsters, more maneuverable than Rex's big melee animals, charged up to them.

Once again, the Eeri proved their worth. Nothing and no-one could stand up to their crackling, fiery, deadly electrical attacks. Bodies were strewn over the ground. Rex lost of few of his ranks, but nothing could hold his creatures back.

To the west of them Rex could see the first base structures. The ground had been lined with metal in that direction. Multiple claws blended into a smooth rat-tat harmony as they clicked over the surface, and heavy hoofbeats echoed as a dull clopping sound.

The army had been largely guarding this base - now they were dealt with there were merely several soundbeam towers defending, and they stood for a very short length of time. The western base was small, a mere few buildings. Rex was more worried by the pipes and grates he could see everywhere. Some of the pipes would have been big enough for Lorca or Killer-Tigers to walk through comfortable. The grates led down to complex mechanical parts buried within the island itself, walled in on all sides by sheer metal. What had Julius done to the place? It would have been peaceful once. Now, instead of birdsong and lapping waves, the air was wrought with the tortured screeches of protesting metal and bellowed war-cries.

The small base reduced to nearly nothing, Rex turned to the north. He could sense a slope, relatively open, up ahead. But Wolf held him back, firmly grabbing Rex's overcoat between his teeth. Desperate to find Lucy though he was, Rex listened to his companion.

Wolf led the company back past the flattened headless statue and up onto the eastern cliffs, towering high over the shoreline below. A fall would have killed a man, thought Rex, feeling the hair on the back of his neck rise as he looked over the edge. Wolf pulled him impatiently away and pushed on, taking a curve up to the north.

A lonely creature chamber was the first building they encountered. Killer Tigers reared eagerly to slam their forepaws onto the structure. It was all but flattened, too. While the slower members of the army were catching up to them, a quick-thinking bunch of lioness-hornets trailing behind waited until a half-injured Lorca was sufficiently far enough from the faster Eeri, then swooped on him. Already damage and too slow with his huge pincers to catch the swift flying enemies on the wing, the Lorca warbled urgently for help. By the time Rex and Wolf, at the front of the army, realized what had happened and brought the Eeri back to help, it was too late. Rex cursed as the Lorca curled up and the fire faded from the white eyes. He chin snapped up and he stalked back to the front of his army, leaving a rear guard of six Eeri with strict orders not to overtake the other creatures. He should have done that in the first place, he berated himself.

Just after the end of the metal section of the island and the start of a small set of hills, the next soundbeam towers came within range. This time there were only four in total and they were able to do very little damage before they were dismantled.

However, as the creatures were climbing the small step-hills, Rex became aware of a presence not under his command. Striding up on folded knuckles came the giant gorilla-whale, Julius's pet. This, or one just like it, was the creature who had taken Lucy.

Rex roared a wordless challenge and charged alone at the mammoth beast. In the back of his mind he was aware Wolf, the Eeri, and the two remaining Komodo-tigers were all calling after him, but they might as well have been a whispering summer breeze for all the impact their warnings had.

The giant gorilla swung a fist. To Rex's eye it was in slow motion. He dodged, hurtled himself at the giant's leg. He didn't even reach it's ankle. Half punching and kicking and half-climbing the rough black fur, he lost his grip when them monster lifted its foot and shook strongly. Rex went airborne. He didn't feel the impact of his body colliding with the ground. Within seconds he was back on his feet, teeth bared like a wild animal, and ran for a second attack.

Rainbow lightning literally filled the air around him. A massive impact knocked him off his feet before be reached the giant. Familiar tawny paws locked around his shoulders and a heavy weight pinned him down. All he could see was brilliant, explosive light. He didn't realize what had happened until his vision cleared and he saw three lines of Eeri all firing at once, a solid wall of electricity arching over his head and into the giant beast.

Not even the gorilla-whale could stand up to it. Rex felt his body lift off the ground, Wolf's weight not even holding him down, when the gorilla-whale's incredible mass hit the dirt. Rex finally snapped out of his rage. It seemed ludicrous to imagine he could have hurt the mammoth animal that now lay several yards away, and he exhaled sharply. Wolf sniffed his cheek warily, then moved aside to let him up.

Slowly, Rex got to his feet. Clarity returned to him. He knew he'd succumbed to another of his rages, which seemed to be getting progressively worse as time passed. That he could of imagined himself to hurt this monster was laughable now his head was clear. But he could still feel it lurking below the surface, waiting, waiting for his concentration to slip.

To the north of them, further up the hill, Rex could make out the slate-steel walls of the biggest lab they'd come across yet. He was more immediately concerned about a creature chamber to the east, which he could make out hippo-archerfish standing around in a herd. He let Wolf charge ahead and lead the Eeri against the similarly-sized creatures. More creatures on his side were lost, each hippo-archerfish could stand up to a surprising amount of electrical attack before they were defeated. Rex quickly directed a pair of Lorca to the chamber while the Eeri handled the tough enemy creatures.

There were only a few more structures on the side of the island, but Rex was more worried by the edge of the cliff itself. Julius had built battlements up like the side of a castle. How long had he been on this island, turning it into his own private fortress? He watched various soundbeam towers being pulled over by his army and nodded to himself. Julius would be left with nothing but scrap metal by the end of the day.

Wolf was seeking around for Lucy. Every now and again he looked around to Rex and growled in frustration, telling his master he couldn't pick up her scent. The creatures moved on to an air chamber towards the top eastern half of the island, which had a crowd of cobra-headed vultures flapping around it. Eeri electricity arched towards them, though some felt the poisonous spits of return fire before they had all been defeated. Some even dived down on the Komodo-tigers, the smallest and most vulnerable appearing targets of the army of giants. But they reared and lashed out with unsheathed tiger claws, proving themselves far from defenseless.

Rex looked across at Wolf. He bared his teeth, then swung his gaze up the hill. He couldn't find Lucy anywhere. Rex knew that left only one place on the island she could be - the only building still standing. He felt perfectly calm now the time had come.

He turned to his creatures, called for their attention, then flung his arm out, pointing at the hilltop Julius's giant lab dominated over.

Up they charged. A small army - more bull-lobsters and hippo-archerfish and a further trio of gorilla-whales - met them there and the two sides clashed. Nothing was holding back Rex from here. He fired again and again, every dart hitting home. Around him more of his creatures died, fell, but those behind just surged forward and filled the gaps. One gorilla-whale died, then another. The Lorca concentrated on the two creature chambers right beside the foot of the lab, both pumping out fresh foes. Once aided by a few Killer Tigers, Wolverines and Dragants, the battle was as good as won.

The Eeri formed a single ring behind the melee attackers, along the towering wall of the lab. The rest of the creatures rushed to the foot of the wall. Giant paws, pincers and claws ripped at the huge expanse of metal wall, tearing holes the Eeri blasted electricity into. A dozen Killer Tigers and Wolverines could have stood on each other's backs and still probably wouldn't have reached the top of the wall. This structure was like the gorilla-whale, a sheer giant of its kind.

Wolf started barking an urgent warning. Rex heard the frantic note in his tone. "Back up!" He bellowed, and they ceased fire and did so.

Flames erupted from the high roof and all along the side of the wall, flaming debris being thrown clear. Some of the Killer Tigers snarled as small fragments of metal cut into them, but they largely bounced off the Lorca and the tough Dragant hides. A Wolverine who had a longer shard fly into his foreleg and embed itself there impatiently lowered its head, gripped the sharp between its strong teeth, yanked it out and spat it to the ground.

A bulky, chalk-white figure stepped up beside a flaming heap several dozen meters from the lab, holding out a cigar to catch the flames. Upton Julius did not turn around when he heard the crunch of boots on the ground behind him. He turned the lit cigar in his hand, staring down at it reflexively. "Did you ever have a dream, Mr Chance?"

"I dreamt that one day I'd meet my father.

"Ah, yes, well I suppose I ruined that for you." Julius took a draw on the cigar and exhaled the smoke. "I guess you could say we're even, then."

"No we can't. Where's Lucy?" Rex's eyes glittered with cold anger.

Instead of answering, Julius swung around to face him, pulled a pistol from his wasteband and pointed it directly at Rex. "I have a duty to the world. I don't expect you to understand that." he snapped. Rex stared levelly at him, showing not the slightest hint of fear. Calmly, he turned his back and started to slowly walk away. "Goodbye, Julius."

Julius stared in surprise. Baring his teeth, he cocked the pistol and moved his finger towards the trigger. He may have lost his entire base to this man, but he would give his life in payment.

He felt only the barest shadow, the faintest brush of a breeze against his cheek. He swung around just in time to see one of his own creatures, a cobra-vulture, diving upon him, talons outstretched, a horrible snakelike screech filling the air. The talons bit sharply into his shoulders, and lifted him form the ground. The pistol fell from his hand as he flailed, unable the break the grip of the fearsome talons. "Oh, no! No, arrrrggh!"

Rex didn't need to turn around to see that cobra-vulture heading out over the ocean with his captive. It would be a long, long way form any island when he was released, only to fall into the cold depths below.

Wolf barked at the same time as Rex heard the sound. He spun around. A sheet of metal had fallen over the door at the nearest corner of the lab to where he stood. As he watched, the sheet shifted, pushed from behind, then slid aside to leave the top half of the door free. Lucy climbed through the gap, a gasp escaping her when she saw the man standing nearby. "Rex!"

"Lucy!" He yelled, taking off, moving faster than he could ever remember moving. She ran to meet him, and he snatched her right off the ground, almost crushing her under the weight of his hug. She threw her arms around his neck, burying her head in his shoulder. She knew he'd come for her.

"Rex... what happened?" Finally she lifted her head and pulled back a little to look at his face. He released his crushing hug, but kelp both arms wrapped around her. "Is it over?"

"Yeah, kiddo." He smiled his big, broad smile at her and pulled her close again, definitely not done hugging her yet. He closed his eyes blissfully. "It's over."

When he opened his eyes again, unseen by Lucy who cuddled against the curve of his shoulder, they shone a deep, pupiless white.

* * *

The sun was setting. Like the day before, blazing orange-red streaks covered the horizon, apart from the blur of gold peeking between the clouds which signalled the position of the falling sun.

Rex and Lucy were sitting side by side on the beach by their base. Wolf was playing in the shallow waves with the komodo-tigers, whom he seemed to have befriended. A few of the Eeri were fishing in deeper waters, the rest of the creatures settling down for the night in the grassy area east of the base. They were worn out, having worked hard to reduce the giant metal laboratory of Upton Julius to rubble. It had been difficult to destroy it thoroughly, due to its sheer size.

Rex and Lucy had spent most of the afternoon talking, telling one another what had happened in their absence, and discussing one very large issue - Sigma.

"Yes, Rex. I think you're right." Lucy couldn't look him in the eye as she spoke. She knew what the ultimatum meant.

Rex looked over at Wolf, his heart heavy. One of the komodo-tigers reared up and batted at Wolf's face with his paws. Growling playfully, Wolf shouldered him into the waves.

"We have to get rid of Sigma." He agreed, feeling as if he were betraying his most faithful friend. _Which he was_. The Sigma technology was too dangerous - if they hadn't stopped Julius, he could have unleashed creatures normal people would have only ever dreamed about into the world.

But Wolf... the Komodo Tigers... the Eeri... every creature who had ever helped him, fought for him. He felt like howling aloud.

"You know where we have to go?" She asked gently.

Another hard thing for him to have to do. "Yes, I know."

There was only one lab left, only one more copy of the files and research and technology that made up Sigma. His father's lab.

"When do you want to leave?" Lucy took his hand. He squeezed her fingers tightly. "Straight away. I... I don't think I can stand putting this off any longer than it has to be. I just... I should... have to..."

She understood. "I'll go prepare the lab." She kissed him softly on the cheek before she stood up. Before she could start the lab's power-up, she had one last thing to do. She walked down to the water's edge. "Wolf?"

Wolf broke away from the komodo-tigers, who were wrestling one another and sending waves everywhere, and trotted up to her, water streaming off his thick wolf fur. He paused in front of her, loweirng his head down to her level.

Lucy reached up to stroke his nose. "I owe you more than I can ever say, Wolf. Thankyou, for keeping Rex safe." He licked her on the cheek. She could say no more to the noble beast. She couldn't bring the word 'goodbye' to her lips. With one last look at Wolf, she turned away and headed for the lab. If it was this hard for her, she knew it would be a hundred times worse for Rex. She still remembered how painful it had been when her little Frupine was lost to her, and Rex and Wolf shared a connection even stronger than that.

Wolf gazed after Lucy until she reached the lab. His ears flicked at the familair sound of the rotors powering up.

He padded over to Rex.

The man rose to greet the tall hybrid. He rested his hands on either side of Wolf's face, feeling the familair wolf-fur under his palms. Wolf's intelligent, knowing eyes met his own, long since back to their usual dark-brown shade. "Oh, Wolf."

He sighed helplessly. There just weren't words for this. How could he ever explain? How could he ever hope Wolf would understand? Would forgive him?

"Sorry just doesn't cut it here, boy." He muttered miserably. "I have to go. And... you can't come with me."

A single whine bubbled from Wolf's throat. Rex hadn't cried in nearly a year, but curse it if he couldn't feel them building now. "There's no other way. We've got to. Wolf..." He seized the great shaggy neck in a hug, feeling Wolf rest his head over his shoulder. "I love you, Wolf." He whispered into damp fur.

When he pulled back, Wolf nuzzled his shoulder. Rex took his muzzle between his hands. "Stay." He whispered, and releasing Wolf, he turned and ran for the lab.

Wolf sat down on the sand, remaining in the same place as Rex dissapeared inside the lab, the door swinging closed behind him. He didn't move from that spot, though his head followed the path of the lab as it took off, stirring up loose sand underneath it as it flew.

Rex felt as if someone had ripped in insides out as he stumbled inside. Closing the door, he fell back against it and slid to the ground, putting his head in his hands. He could feel greif and sympathy radiating from Lucy, though she could not come to him while she was steering the lab.

From the island below, came a single, lonely, hauntingly beautiful howl.


	32. Epilogue

_**Impossible Creatures:**_** Epilogue **

**Isla Undisonus**

**July 29th, 1937**

It had been a long journey, though it had seemed faster now that their stops were unhindered by the need to locate and destroy enemy bases. Rex had been very quiet, and Lucy had given him what space she could. He often sought her out, though he spoke little. He would stand at her side as she steered, or sit beside her at their evening campfire. Sometimes when he seemed particularly lost she would reach for one of his large, calloused hands, and he would close his fingers around her smaller ones.

There was little left to be said, anyway.

When they trekked over the snowy ground to the silent laboratory building that had belonged to Rex's father, both of them missed the familiar sound of light pawsteps at their side. Wolf's absence was like a wound that refused to heal over.

The took several of Dr Chanikov's possessions into their lab. He had kept extensive journals, something he seemed to have in common with his son. They kept the personal ones, while Lucy sadly left the scientific research ones behind.

There was a black and white photograph of Rex as a baby in his mother's arms, his father smiling over them both, that Rex treasured. Then there were some beautiful and detailed books on wild animals Lucy insisted they keep.

After they were done, Lucy sabotaged the power supply of the building. They returned to the lab, parked a safe distance away - not too far from Dr. Chanikov's grave. A fire sprang up inside the lab. They waited as it caught, and a muffled explosion sounded from inside.

The Sigma Technology had been destroyed. Rex felt his heart skip painfully. He couldn't think of the hundreds of creatures who had brought him to his point, but the misery clawed up his heart and soul.

Then Lucy was beside him, pulling him into a gentle hug. He clung to her, his last lifeline. The only other survivor of the whole Sigma Adventure.

"Rex, oh Rex. It'll be all right." Lucy whispered, smoothing down his dark hair. She could feel his shoulders shaking. "Will it, Lucy?" He choked.

"In time, Rex. It'll all be all right, given time."

* * *

On an island at the opposite end of the Isla Variatis, Lucy's words had been proven true, though neither she nor Rex knew it.

With the explosion of the final laboratory housing Sigma technology, over fifteen islands, creatures faded into nothingness without the power behind the technology to maintain them. Yet, Rex had overlooked one very important thing. A suspicion his father had harboured about him, a suspicion that had been reflected when his eyes had shone white.

"I have reason to believe that he is the very essence of Sigma..."

Sitting atop a small hillside on Isla Tantus, a grey and tawny creature surveyed the land around him, ears perked, white eyes keen. There were human footprints remaining in the sand above where the tideline reached. In the spot the lab had been parked, the two komodo-tigers were curled together. Five Eeri stood head-to-tail close by, grunting faintly to one another.

These eight were all that remained of the final army of Rex Chance. Upon every island, similar small groups would remain, sustained by the man who had fought beside them. He would never know it - he and Lucy had left the Isla Variatis for good.

Like a faithful sentinel, the rangy canine-feline hybrid remained at his post. Night was falling under cover of another brilliant sunset. Lifting his muzzle, he let out out a long, sweet howl.

_Endings were never truly the end. _

_

* * *

_

**Final A/Ns**

**So there you have it. It's complete. **

**I dedicate it to my good friend Changer, who has been my muse throughout this story, and the one to encourage me to continue it. **

**There's sequels already in the planning stages... but if you want them, you'll have to review! **

**I hope you all enjoyed it. **


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